And this is what Louis Althusser states: "In 'Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses' Louis Althusser the traditional Marxist question of how are conditions and relations of production being reproduction being reproduced and maintained is society. Althusser's answer is that two types of mechanisms are at play here: "repressive state apparatuses which gain abidance and cooperation from the public through physical coercion means such as the police, army, prisons, courts etc. the other type of mechanism Authusser notes are the "ideological state apparatuses" ideological state apparatus are somewhat reminiscent of Gramsci's concept of hegemony and soft power. According to Althusser ideological state apparatuses are sustained by cultural institutions such as the education system, the church, the family, media and culture. The ideological state apparatuses gain free willed cooperation and a sense of choice of what is in reality imposed.
Picture posted by Arturo Espinosa on January 28, 2013. Flickr.com
Althusser holds that both repressive state apparatuses and ideological state apparatuses operate together by combining repression and ideology with the difference between them being the different nature of their workings. From here Althusser turns to defining the concept of ideology, dominant in the ideological state apparatuses, which serves to perpetuate class subordination and exploitative relations of production over generations."
What does it mean to me?
This passage fundamentally argues class struggle and the ways production and reproduction is being distributed. The concept of this struggle between classes is an state of mind that was introduced by Karl Marx. In a way, it explains the massive gap that increases exponentially between rich and low class, which may be caused by the way how church, family, media, and cultural institution are administrated. This is a problem and a philosophy that threat capitalistic state of minds and empowers revolutionary social governments and societies.
How it affects my design or something outside school?
This idea affects positively my future designs and projects in many ways: It is important to understand the class struggle between rich and poor because allows one to keep a balance within ideas projected to the audience. The meaning of keeping a balance allows one to come up with ideas that persuade different types of classes. What I do and learn through the academia process will reflect my present and future, which encourages me to present my project in a more professional way.
Less Clear Passage:
Another passage mentioned by Althusser says: "we know that the State apparatus may survive, as is proved by bourgeois 'revolution' in nineteenth-century France, by coups d'etat, by collapses of the State, or by the political rise of the petty bourgeoisie, etc., without the State apparatus being affected or modified (14, my emphasis)."
This passage is really powerful because it can be connected it with what is currently happening in Ukraine. Since it declared independence in 1991, the country has been politically divided along political lines. About half of the society want their country to integrate with the European Union and turn away from Russia. Some other people wanted to join with the Russian-led trade union. This division in this area could be considered class/political struggle between the rich and poor whose revolution may empower each political party who want their country to "succeed" (what ever that means).
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