DoubleBubble - Althusser

According to Althusser, if ideology is not reproduced it is unlikely that a system will survive. This continuous reproduction of ideology creates an imaginary representation of the real conditions of their existence. Ideological State Apparatuses are influential to determining the existence of reproduction of submission to the ruling ideology and also a reproduction of the capability to manipulate the ruling ideology correctly for agents of exploitation and domination. The ideology ruling must transfer over to every generation in order for the ruling ideology to survive. Totalitarian order must be forced if people of the society are not buying into the rules. The ability to create this willing submission to an unfair system is achieved through the ISAs.

Althusser begins his article by explaining to us what Ideological State Apparatuses are. He begins by explaining how it cannot be confused with the idea of Repressive State Apparatus. Repressive State Apparatuses contains the government, the army and the police. Althusser defines Ideological State Apparatuses as, “a certain number of realities which present themselves to the immediate observer in the form of distinct and specialized institutions” (42).
I think the way that Althusser explains ideology is great because he is saying in order for us to understand ideology we first must understand the question of what is society? After explaining to us what is society by explaining the ISA’s he begins to go into further detail about ideology.

Althusser's first thesis is that "Ideology is a 'representation' of the Imaginary Relationship of Individuals to their Real conditions of existence" (44). He begins his explanation of this statement by looking at why it is necessary for people to need this imaginary relation to real conditions of existence. Why can they not just understand the real?

These ideas about representation and reality believe that what is reflected in the imaginary representation of the world found in ideology is the "real world". Althusser explains that ideology doesn't technically describe the real world, but instead peoples relations to the real world, to their perceptions of the real conditions of existence. It is possible that we do not even know the real world directly but what we think we know is just representations or ideas of the real world. Ideology then is the imaginary story, the represented story, the stories people tell themselves about our relation to the real world.

So the "real world" becomes, not objectively out there, but instead is the outcome of our relations to it and has the ideological portrayals people make of it. These stories are what people believe are what is real. That's how ideology operates. Connecting Marx into this idea of ideology, Marx says that ideology presents people with ideas of their relations to relations of production, instead of ideas of the relations of production themselves.