Althusser's Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses

February 24th 

For today's class, we read an essay by Louis Althusser titled "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Toward an Investigation)."  Although the paper was supposed to be about how subjects are affected by an ideology, I did not initially know that the essay would be discussing a topic of rhetoric.  At the start of the essay, Althusser introduces the concept of ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) and provides some examples of ISAs like the government, prisons, courts, and so on.  Because of this introduction, I honestly thought that the writer would be discussing his views on politics to which I responded by rolling my eyes.  However, as I continued reading, I learned that Althusser merely utilized this type of introduction in order to exemplify his main point: we are all subjects. 
  

"In this preliminary remark and these concrete illustrations, I only wish to point out that you and I are always already subjects, and as such constantly practice the rituals of ideological recognition, which guarantee for us that we are indeed concrete, individual, distinguishable, and (naturally) irreplaceable subjects" (Althusser 85).

The passage above indicates the inevitability of our exposure to various ideologies.  We are constantly exposed to different messages in the form of different mediums without even realizing it.  For instance, ads we hear on the radio or see on television, the content material we learn in our classes, the social networking sites that we visit -- these are all examples of ideologies.  In regards to my website, I am both the subject of ideologies on obesity and the lecturer of an ideology.  I create an ideology on obesity by taking from other ideologies that I have read and researched.  Because I am aware that my subjects may not always be in agreement with me, I refer to specific assets and other argumentative examples to support my ideology.  I also have applied this technique to my other class assignments, specifically my rhetoric 301 class that I took last semester.   

Although I clearly understood the passage on page 85, I did not completely comprehend the statement below and how it tied back to the topic of rhetoric: 

"To my knowledge, 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" (Althusser 81).

I initially believed that Althusser was using this essay as a way to push his belief of social status onto his subjects and did not understand how it related to rhetoric.  However, when I was listening to the lecture in class today, the professor talked about control of the web and other media sources.  He pointed out how everybody can have access to internet and anybody can post their ideas to this open web.  This point can be directly associated with Althusser's claim above.  By taking advantage of social media and posting our two cents online where it is accessible to any reader, we are trying to assert our power by attempting to persuade a particular audience to believe our ideology.