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'''Ideology''' is the mental lens through which the subject interprets his social-material condition. Ideology encompasses such fields as [[art]], [[family]], [[culture]], [[religion]], [[philosophy]], [[media]], and [[education]]. | '''Ideology''' is the mental lens through which the subject interprets his social-material condition. Ideology encompasses such fields as [[art]], [[family]], [[culture]], [[religion]], [[philosophy]], [[media]], and [[education]]. | ||
[[Karl Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels]] | [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]] and [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] all discuss ideology to some extent, in the form of critiques of ruling class ideology, polemics against opportunism, etc. However, it was [[Antonio Gramsci]] and later [[Louis Althusser]] who really attempted to provide a fundamental analysis of the mechanical function of ideology as a phenomenon<ref>{{Citation|author=Antonio Gramsci|year=1929--1935|title=Prison Notebooks|chapter=Notebook 1, §44-§48: This section has important early formulations of the concept of hegemony in relation to the state and civil society. | ||
Notebook 5, §78-§80: Here Gramsci reflects on state power, civil society, and the complex interplay of consent and coercion in maintaining cultural hegemony. | |||
Notebook 10, §44: This passage delves into the role of intellectuals in the creation and propagation of hegemony. | |||
Notebook 13, §17: Here Gramsci discusses the balance of force and consent in the process of establishing and maintaining hegemony.|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/prison_notebooks/index.htm}}</ref>, and its role in the reproduction of class interests<ref>https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm</ref>. Gramsci presented a view of the [[class struggle]] in which the ruling class wields not just coercive force (military, repression, judicial persecution), but also culturally hegemonic forces, like bourgeois media and educational institutions that present the bourgeois worldview. Althusser identified the same duality, but referring to them as the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), respectively. Together, they comprise the totality of the [[state apparatus]]. | |||
Ideology, in this context, refers not just to philosophy or ideas, but to a profoundly material force which exists in the practices, rituals and institutions of civil societ; institutions such as the education system, the family, the church and mass media, including news and entertainment media. Althusser's essay [[Library:Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses|''Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses'']] (1970) emphasizes that ideology is continually lived and experienced, perpetuating and being perpetuated by social forces. Gramsci, similarly, posited that ideology is a core component of the ability of any class to realize its class interests; in other words, ideology in society is just as much of a battleground of class struggle as the physical revolutionary war for state control, and the ideological transformation of society takes much longer than simply seizing state power. | |||
== Ideological state apparatuses == | == Ideological state apparatuses == | ||
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== Interpellation == | == Interpellation == | ||
'''Interpellation''' is a concept developed by [[Marxist-Leninist]] philosopher [[Louis Althusser]] to explain the process through which [[Ideology|ideological]] [[superstructure]] helps shape and sustain the [[social formation]]. In essence, it is about how we as individuals are made to understand our roles and positions in society, and how these roles are reproduced and reinforced. | '''Interpellation''' is a concept developed by [[Marxist-Leninist]] philosopher [[Louis Althusser]] to explain the process through which [[Ideology|ideological]] [[superstructure]] helps shape and sustain the [[social formation]]. In essence, it is about how we as individuals are made to understand our roles and positions in society, and how these roles are reproduced and reinforced. | ||
In the system of interpellation, [[Ideological state apparatus|ideological state apparatuses]] generate a complex web of ideological content embedding subjects within social, political, and economic systems, which help reproduce the existing social order. | In the system of interpellation, [[Ideological state apparatus|ideological state apparatuses]] generate a complex web of ideological content embedding subjects within social, political, and economic systems, which help reproduce the existing social order. | ||
Revision as of 12:50, 12 June 2023
Ideology is the mental lens through which the subject interprets his social-material condition. Ideology encompasses such fields as art, family, culture, religion, philosophy, media, and education.
Marx, Engels and Lenin all discuss ideology to some extent, in the form of critiques of ruling class ideology, polemics against opportunism, etc. However, it was Antonio Gramsci and later Louis Althusser who really attempted to provide a fundamental analysis of the mechanical function of ideology as a phenomenon[1], and its role in the reproduction of class interests[2]. Gramsci presented a view of the class struggle in which the ruling class wields not just coercive force (military, repression, judicial persecution), but also culturally hegemonic forces, like bourgeois media and educational institutions that present the bourgeois worldview. Althusser identified the same duality, but referring to them as the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), respectively. Together, they comprise the totality of the state apparatus.
Ideology, in this context, refers not just to philosophy or ideas, but to a profoundly material force which exists in the practices, rituals and institutions of civil societ; institutions such as the education system, the family, the church and mass media, including news and entertainment media. Althusser's essay Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (1970) emphasizes that ideology is continually lived and experienced, perpetuating and being perpetuated by social forces. Gramsci, similarly, posited that ideology is a core component of the ability of any class to realize its class interests; in other words, ideology in society is just as much of a battleground of class struggle as the physical revolutionary war for state control, and the ideological transformation of society takes much longer than simply seizing state power.
Ideological state apparatuses
See main article: Ideological state apparatus
Ideological state apparatuses are institutions such as the education system, the family, the church and mass media, including news and entertainment media. These institutions are distinct from what Althusser terms the repressive state apparatus, which exert their control through the explicit threat of violence; this includes the military, police, and prison systems, among other things.
Together, the ideological state apparatus and repressive state apparatus form "the state apparatus", or more commonly, the state-- the system that a ruling class uses to exert dictatorship over the other class(es).
Interpellation
Interpellation is a concept developed by Marxist-Leninist philosopher Louis Althusser to explain the process through which ideological superstructure helps shape and sustain the social formation. In essence, it is about how we as individuals are made to understand our roles and positions in society, and how these roles are reproduced and reinforced.
In the system of interpellation, ideological state apparatuses generate a complex web of ideological content embedding subjects within social, political, and economic systems, which help reproduce the existing social order.
The process of interpellation involves the subject recognizing themselves in the ideology presented to them. For instance, when a person internalizes a social role (like being a teacher, student, or parent) based on the norms and expectations communicated through ideological state apparatuses, they are being interpellated. The power of interpellation lies in its invisibility, as it occurs so naturally and ubiquitously that it seems like a part of our natural existence.
The subjects, according to Althusser, are "always-already interpellated", meaning that they are born into a world already structured by ideology. Even before an individual starts to self-identify or perceive themselves as a subject, they are already positioned within an ideological framework.
This interpellation is not a one-time process but a continuous one, where subjects are constantly 're-interpellated' into different roles and identities. The process of interpellation is therefore one of the essential ways that a given class dictatorship maintains relative order. By interpellating individuals into specific roles and identities, ideologies play a crucial role in reproducing the conditions and relations of production, thereby reinforcing the status quo.
See also
References
- ↑ Antonio Gramsci (1929--1935). Prison Notebooks: 'Notebook 1, §44-§48: This section has important early formulations of the concept of hegemony in relation to the state and civil society. Notebook 5, §78-§80: Here Gramsci reflects on state power, civil society, and the complex interplay of consent and coercion in maintaining cultural hegemony. Notebook 10, §44: This passage delves into the role of intellectuals in the creation and propagation of hegemony. Notebook 13, §17: Here Gramsci discusses the balance of force and consent in the process of establishing and maintaining hegemony.'. [MIA]
- ↑ https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm