Ideology and Ideological State Apparathusses
por opmartinez
In Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses Althusser recovers Marx idea of the reproduction of the conditions of production in order to maintain these conditions of production. This reproduction is achieved by the reproduction of labor power which is ensured by giving labor power the material to reproduce itself, in other words by wages; and the reproduction of the existing relations of production carried out through the Ideological State Apparatuses. These new apparatuses go hand in hand with the State Apparatus but work in a very different way. While the State Apparatus functions through repressive force i.e. government, administration, army, the police, courts, prisons, etc. the Ideological State Apparatuses are represented by distinct and specialized institutions, such as religion, education, family, media, culture, political parties, etc. and have as a goal to ensure society’s assimilation of the ruling power’s ideology.
Personally, I couldn’t agree more with the idea introduced by Althusser, there are so many other gears inside the State’s machine working in other to assure its prevalence. I couldn’t help but think about what happened in Mexico a couple of months ago during the presidential elections. Enrique Peña Nieto the PRI’s candidate, the now president elect, was the chosen candidate by the State to protect the interests of the ruling power. What happened next was incredible, every major TV network, radio station, newspaper (except for the left wing one), many actors, actresses, soccer players, writers, academics, etc. started openly reinforcing the dominant ideology in order to guarantee the electoral triumph of Peña Nieto and in the end succeeded (with a little extra help from some other friends, of course but succeeded). To me election time is one of the best circumstances where one could appreciate the Ideological State Apparatus working at full steam.
What I find most compelling about the ISA is the fact that it is not as impermeable as the SA, so the classes that are not in power are often able to sneak in and raise their voices. I really like Althusser’s idea of the ISAs being the place where the class struggle happens because we have seen it happen in history through music, literature, religion, etc. We have seen books being burnt, artists banned and religions turned into paganism and we have also seen many of these examples survive the persecution. Ideology is stronger than any army or repressive state, it is very hard to change but if and when it does it is also very hard to contain. Could we say that perhaps ideology is at the same time what oppresses and what liberates us?
Olga says: 
«Could we say that perhaps ideology is at the same time what oppresses and what liberates us?»
I really like this idea. I think we can absolutely say that ideology can oppress but at the same time can liberate us. This is precisely why the ISA’s are sites of conflict and struggle; they are ambivalent by nature. The best example that comes to mind is colonization. In Bhabha’s «Signs Taken for Wonders», he explains how the «English Book» is always presented as a symbol of power and colonial desire. However, he notes that the English Book does the complete opposite of what it is meant to achieve. There is ambivalence in colonial discourse which works to weaken the dominant discourse. Therefore, the «English Book» does not constitute a form of oppression, but a form of liberation since the text can be appropriated and adapted by the colonized subject. This is precisely what creates hybridity. Although ideology is employed by the dominant culture in aims of assimilating a population, it can also be recuperated by the minority and used against the dominant culture. This is what can create the possibility of liberation. French Beur literature constitutes a clear example of this.