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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.
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 media and educational institutions presenting a bourgeois worldview. Althusser identified the same duality, but in contrast to Gramsci considers both of them to be part of the greater state apparatus,[2] referring to them as the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) and the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA), respectively.
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 society; institutions such as the education system, the family, the church and the media. Althusser's essay Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (1970) emphasizes that ideology is not static, but something continually lived, perpetuating and being perpetuated by social forces; as such, a proletarian movement with some superstructural systems under its control, like a widely circulated popular newspaper, will have an easier time spreading proletarian ideology. Gramsci similarly posits that ideology is a core battleground of the class struggle, just as important as the physical revolutionary war for state control, and possibly more important still.
The ideological transformation of society, or for proletarian ideology to become the dominant ideological system, is a more complicated endeavor than simply "seizing power". In fact, the struggle against lingering bourgeois ideology is widely considered a core task of the proletarian movement, by Marxist thinkers such as i.e. Stalin and Mao. This process, the defeat of bourgeois ideology, may be a protracted war in and of itself.
Since the understanding of both Gramsci and Althusser ultimately considers ideology as much as a part of the "state apparatus" as the state's repressive organs, and revolution is the full transfer of state authority to a new class, it can be understood that "revolution" is a process much longer than simply defeating bourgeois governmental authority, which encompasses also the subsequent socialist transformation of society in the ideological and economic sense. A good example of this is Cuba; Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba make a distinction between "the revolutionary war" which specifically refers to the 1950s armed struggle, and "the Revolution", an ongoing transformative process that must be continuously upheld.[3]
Ideology and class dictatorship[edit | edit source]
Cultural hegemony[edit | edit source]
Cultural hegemony is a term introduced by Antonio Gramsci to refer to the ruling class's means of maintaining dominance in the ideological and cultural sphere. According to Gramsci, in their dictatorship, a ruling class not only wields force and economic control, but also the propagation of values, norms, and ideas to form a 'hegemonic culture' that perpetuates the existing relations of production.
Ideological state apparatuses[edit | edit source]
See main article: Ideological state apparatus
Ideological state apparatuses are, according to Marxist-Leninist philosopher Louis Althusser, 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; those include the military, police, and prison systems, among other things.
The purpose of ISAs is essentially to safeguard a class's cultural hegemony over a given population. Together, ideological and repressive state apparatuses make up "the state apparatus", or more commonly, the state-- the totality of systems that the ruling class relies on to exert its dictatorship over the other class(es). However, as seen in the theory of dual power, the oppressed classes can also form their own instruments, both repressive ones like the Roter Frontkämpferbund or ideological ones like Pravda.
Interpellation[edit | edit source]
Interpellation, another concept presented by Althusser, attempts 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[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 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]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.htm
- ↑ http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/2000/ing/f010500i.html "Our consciousness and the ideas sown by the Revolution throughout more than four decades have been our weapons. Revolution [...] is changing everything that must be changed."