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Louis Althusser's

State Apparatuses

Louis Althusser (1919-1990) is a 20th Century French Marxist philosopher whose life’s work has contributed to fields of inquiry in “Analytical Marxism, Critical Realism, and [the] Philosophy of Language.”¹ While primarily known as a philosopher, he has made important contributions in different disciplines in the social sciences and humanities.

Repressive State Apparatuses refer to state-run institutions (i.e. different levels of government, state administrative bodies, military, police, courts, prisons and jails, etc.) that function with varying levels of (non-physical) repression and/or (physical) violence, which the ruling class has at their disposal.²

EXAMPLES:

Brutal use of force by the police to disrupt and disperse peaceful and lawful protests ³'⁴
Attacks on and closures of Lumad schools and communities by military personnel ⁵
Silencing of activists through unlawful murder by the police and military ⁶

Althusser (1971) has two main claims about ideology:

“Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence”
“Ideology has a material existence”

In this regard, ideology is not just an abstract concept or idea, it exists in the material world, through different apparatuses. It is shaped through the lived material realities of people.

Ideological State Apparatuses are non-state institutions that continue to perpetuate the ideology of the ruling class. Institutions that are considered as ISA are religion, education, family, legal system, political system, trade unions, communications (press, radio, television, etc.), and culture (literature, art, sports, etc.).² While Repressive State Apparatuses act as a united front (i.e. the state), on the other hand, there is a plurality in Ideological State Apparatuses.

According to Althusser (1971), “no class can hold State power over a long period without at the same time exercising its hegemony over and in the State Ideological Apparatuses.” It is also important to note that there is no apparatus that is purely ideological. Even if an ISA operates primarily through ideology, there is some latent or peripheral element of repression or violence.

EXAMPLES:

Neoliberal orientation of education through the K-12 system and the unequal access to free education ⁷
Muddling of political discourse and spread of disinformation through the online troll industry ⁸
Sectarian schools making homosexuality a possible grounds for expulsion ⁹

References

¹Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2018. “Louis Althusser.” Retrieved January 21, 2020 (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/althusser/)

²2Althusser, Louis. 1971. “Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (Notes towards an investigation).” Pp. 142-147, 166-176 in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, edited by B. Brewster. New York and London: Monthly Review Press. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (http://mforbes.sites.gettysburg.edu/.../Week-3b-Louis...)

³ Talabong, Rambo & Jodesz Gavilan. 2020. “Why police always go overboard in restricting protests.” Rappler, October 22. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.rappler.com/.../reasons-philippine-national...)

⁴ Thoreson, Ryan. 2020. “Philippines Police Crack Down on LGBT Protest.” Human Rights Watch, June 29. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.hrw.org/.../philippines-police-crack-down...)

⁵Diño, Niña & Maxine Sta. Cruz. “Dwindling numbers: Lumad schools continue to suffer closures, attacks during the pandemic.” Rappler, September 18. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.rappler.com/.../lumad-schools-continue-to...)

⁶ Gonzales, Catherine. 2020. “CHR: 89 ‘human rights defenders’ killed from 2017 to 2019.” Inquirer.net, August 21. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/.../chr-89-human-rights...)

⁷San Juan, David Michael M. 2016. “Neoliberal Restructuring of Education in the Philippines: Dependency, Labor, Privatization, Critical Pedagogy, and the K to 12 System.” Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 16:1. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.researchgate.net/.../320558212_Neoliberal...).

⁸ Ong, Jonathan Corpus. 2018. “In the Philippines, political trolling is an industry--this is how it works.” Open Democracy, February 20. Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.opendemocracy.net/.../in-philippines.../).

⁹ Rappler. 2020, August 8. “LGBTQ+ groups slam Assumption Iloilo for ‘discriminating against homosexuality.” Retrieved January 21, 2021 (https://www.rappler.com/.../lgbtq-groups-slam-assumption...)

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