Althusser

• Structural Marxism


  Marxism viewed as a science due to its objective study of social institutions and structures
• Althusser's view of the state

  • The state is a tool of the ruling class
  • Its main objective is to reproduce inequality in society by controlling the masses
• Infrastructure or economic base

  Controlling the superstructure of society - the social institutions and cultural aspects of social life
• Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)


  • Controls the masses through altering the way they think about society
  • Achieved through social institutions like education, media, religion, family
• Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)


  • Controls the masses through force
  • Role of police, armed forces, legal system
• Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)


  Passes on the dominant norms and values of the ruling class through social institutions
• Evidence of ISA in social institutions

  • Education - teaching hierarchies, obedience, conformity
  • Family - socializing children to work hard and provide
  • Religion - promising rewards in afterlife for suffering in this life
  • Media - setting examples of behaviour and promoting conformity
• Purpose of Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)


  To indoctrinate the masses into the ruling class ideology
• Meritocracy is a myth used to legitimize inequality and make the working class believe they haven't worked hard enough
• The ruling class elites' behaviours are promoted as desirable to legitimize their higher status
• Some people reject the dominant ideology, rendering the ISA ineffective
• Role of Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)


  • To re-establish social control through force
  • Police, security services, armed forces, legal system responsible for controlling dissent
• Evidence of RSA in recent events


  • Reactions of police to 2011 UK riots
  • Police actions against Black Lives Matter protesters in USA
  • Police tactics in Poll Tax riots and Miners' Strike in UK
• Althusser's ideas were based on theoretical view rather than actual research, negating the idea of Marxism as a science
• Many people reject ruling class ideologies yet conform to everyday life without need for RSA intervention
• Protests can be a form of direct political action, and governments have a duty to consent to the will of the people