Louis Althusser
(1918--1990)
Althusser was another major theorist, more concerned with French
marxist politics in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. His major
projects are of less immediate interest to us here, because they turned
on trying to systematise and make valid marxist theory in general.
However, he was the author of a very specific and much quoted essay on
ideology and the role of the state. I have a
summary of the actual
essay and some other bits on ideology for anyone who is interested.
The essay itself is an attempt to define 'ideology in general',
that is to identify the central feature of actual ideologies that are
important in modern European societies. It turns out that individualism
is the key. What happens is that a number of 'state apparatuses' play a
major role in trying to persuade us that we are free liberated
individuals able to make choices in our best interests there. So far,
this is not particularly unusual for marxist analysis, and a lot of
critical work on consumerism makes that point as well -- we think we
are free to choose, but in fact our options are pretty well limited by
the activities of commercial organisations -- they 'individualise'
goods and services, not us. However, Althusser offers a rather
interesting specific account.
He suggests that there is a basic mechanism to construct a sense of
individuality. This is called 'interpellation', or
'hailing'. It works when people greet us ( 'hail' us) in the street:
someone says 'Hi Dave! Owizit at Marjons?' and this confirms my sense
that I am a proper individual with a personality and an identity. There
is a religious metaphor here which expands the idea. Christians report
that they become fully individual, free and human once they contact
God. God then acknowledges them, but, of course, they have to subject
themselves to his will first. Christians are free only after they have
submitted.
Lots of state apparatuses offer us the same deal. My favourite example
is the education system. When we do well, we think of ourselves as well
rounded confident and capable individuals, but we only do well after we
submitted to the rules and procedures. To push the French - inspired
word play to its limit, we have to submit assignments which other
people have set and which they judge, and in exchange we get
'our' personal, individual and very important grade.
Althusser suggests that just about all the state apparatuses work in
this way, and he includes families and the mass-media. What about the
apparatuses that deal with sport and related activities? On the
individual level, it might be quite possible to see that you only
achieve 'your' personal best by submitting yourself to the regime
suggested by your coach, and, of course, you have to submit to the
rules and regulations that govern the particular sport in the first
place. More generally, you could understand health policy as offering
people a sense of being a full , proper and active citizen, but only if
those people accept the criteria (such as having an acceptable BMI).
On another tack, it might be possible to try and detect the mechanisms
by which individuals are 'hailed' in actual policies. How are
individuals addressed? What sort of individualism (individual benefits,
individual responsibilities) is being suggested by the policy? What do
individuals have to agree to in the first place? ( see also the file on
persuasive communication)
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