In Althusser’s reading he explains two different apparatuses used to influence society. The first is the Ideological State Apparatus, which maintains values and order in society by transmitting ideologies through different systems of the sate, such as religious institutions, family, and educational institutions. In the Ideological State Apparatus there is willing compliance, which is what contrasts it from the Repressive State Apparatus. Althusser explains, the Repressive State Apparatus functions with fear and violence. Such institutions such as the police, the army, and laws are examples of the RSA. He explains that both are very effective in the influence of values on society. When reading about the RSA it reminded me of one of out first discussions on this class on postmodernism. The first thing that popped into my mind was “Fear is the aesthetic dejour.” In the beginning of he semester be spoke about the postmodern idea that fear is what dictates our decisions. Its why we put our seat belts on, why we have Purell “stations” at every corner of this campus, because of fear of accidents and fear of getting sick. This is very similar, almost identical to Altheusser’s Repressive state Apparatus. We use fear and violence to maintain order in the society. We make laws for us to be afraid of the punishment we will face if we make certain decisions. We put so much money into weapons and building a large Army so other countries are afraid to attack us. Fear has become the stimulus of all of our decisions.
As a target of both the ideological State Apparatus and the Repressive State Apparatus I find myself pondering, where do my ideas come from? I was brought up as a Catholic, following the values and faith of the religion, and I follow the law because I am afraid of the punishment. I have been a victim of both of Althusser’s apparatus’, so do I make conscious decisions based on personal beliefs that are independent from ideology, or have all of my opinions come from subconsciously accepting the ideology?
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Good blog - you really show a good understanding of the material at hand. It would have been good to see your view of how Marx ties in with all of this about ideology, and how the ISA functions. Otherwise you bring up a very philosophical question at the end - where do our beliefs come from? How do we distinguish our beliefs from those put onto us? How do you think this will change with 'participatory culture' as coined by Jenkins? :)
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