ABSTRACT
A conception developed by French structuralist Marxist Louis Althusser. Althusser developed the notion of ideological state apparatuses (or ISAs) in an attempt to both expand and clarify the meaning of the term ‘ideology’ as it is presented in the thoughts of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in line with his revision of traditional Marxist theory. Althusser argued that the traditional Marxist conception of ideology, although in essence correct, is too restrictive and insufficiently subtle as a means of elucidating the structures which underpin Marxist analysis of society. On the traditional model, the term ‘ideology’ is usually taken to refer to abstracted and illusory forms of thought which serve to naturalise, and thereby legitimise, the dominant social order of capitalism. The system of ideas which function as norms within capitalist society are therefore an articulation of the interests of the ruling class, and hence the base-structure of material relations of production is directly reflected in the ideological superstructure of ideas which serve to legitimise capitalist power. Althusser argued that such an account lacks an important aspect: although the theory of ideology provides an account of the structure of ideas which serve to naturalise the rule of the dominant class, it fails to address the way in which capitalism must at the same time seek to reproduce the conditions of production necessary to its continued survival. This is done, Althusser argued, through ideological state apparatuses.
