Cultural Theory: Althusser's Concept of Ideology

College course lecture from Ron Strickland.

[@rlstrick]

Thanks for your comment. The absence of passion was a more or less conscious choice in my effort to produce videos with as much information as concisely as possible. I don't want them to be confusing or off-putting, though, and I will consider these constructive criticisms very seriously as I produce subsequent videos.

[@Tom_Tom_Klondike]

Ron I really appreaciate how you make these videos AND write back to all these questions people have for you. It is really a great service. Thank you

[@suddenuprising]

I wish I had the self-discipline to read for more than 10 minutes.

[@Indomat64]

amen brother

[@beastpoet4335]

it's actually easy once you start to read something that interests you. might start there. and once it has become a habit, you can start tackling more straining stuff

[@beastpoet4335]

working in a chinese factory is friggin hard. reading is enjoyable, so make good use of your privilege ;)

[@matthewmalpeli]

Here's a neat trick I discovered by accident. Spend one day a week in a state of distraction deprivation. I leave my house, tell no one where I'm going (except my partner, for safety and trust reasons), and take nothing but a packed lunch and my public transport payment card (no cash!). I go anywhere I won't be bothered by other people or anything mildly simulating. Tranquil places are ideal. I don't do churches as the iconography and hysterical followers makes my blood boil, but some people can shut out all that noise. I prefer natural settings to ideological ones. I discovered this about four years ago when one day my apartment block was locked down by cops due to a hostage situation. Some guy on a meth psychosis had forced a young mother with two young children at gun point to hide him from the people he believed were chasing him and when the cops arrived he'd barricaded them in and started shooting from a window. Nobody was allowed in or out from the perimeter they set up and all I had was my flat battery phone and my public transport card. With literally nothing to do, I jumped on a train and got off at a random station I'd never been to before just to waste some time and have a look around. That's when I stumbled upon this Japanese garden curated by the local city council for the purposes of "quiet contemplation". So that's what I did, for about two or three hours anyway. A month later I did the same thing, this time with a packed lunch (hunger is the most compelling distraction there is) and applying what I'd learned from meditation. I won't sugar coat it for you, this is not an easy thing for people of this ideological epoch to do. We have been raised in a constant state of over-stimulation after all. But doing this as a ritual for a month or so, I found that if I wanted to I could simulate a "no distractions" environment with little effort and for any purpose. A book that might take me three months, ten pages at a time, to complete I could now devour in five or six one hour sessions over the course of a week. It's all in your head. Do what we do when our devices start crashing and reboot. You'll be amazed at how your "programs" will load faster and maintain their stability for longer

[@waterguyroks]

Stop being a little bitch and read. You can do it, you just don't want to.

[@shehreyarky]

Your webcasts have taught me a great deal. Thank you for taking the time to make them. Love the intro music.

[@neftalibaltasarsilvaalvare8244]

Great job! a very smart instriduction to althussers greaters ideas. Thanks for the job.

[@jayneburbidge8073]

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this, it's not confusing at all, on the contrary you are the first person who has explained interpellation to me in a way that I understand! Cheers!

[@rlstrick]

Althusser does imply the bleak prospects for individual agency that you suggest. I find his theory most useful because it imposes a critical self-consciousness--if you begin with the assumption that the individual is in control of his/her destiny, you will probably not notice how that individual agency is overdetermined by ideology. It's a bit like "negative theology" in the Kierkegaard tradition. You assume that human nature is not essentially good; it's your responsibility to be good.

[@lex4943]

Excellent video!! Thank you!

[@KinnieTheExplorer]

it feels like you're reading off a teleprompter, but the content is very useful so thanks for posting! try and imagine you're talking to a friend when presenting

[@sgbh8874]

Just observations: Nowhere, in anything he wrote, does Marx use the term 'false consciousness'. I believe it is a term attributed Engels. There is a difference between Marx and Marxism, and sometimes that difference can be very important. Also 'leading ideas' are not the same as ideology. Terry Eagleton & Jorge Larriane have both done seminal work in the concept and are well worth reading. Vivé Bakunin

[@infinitafenix3153]

Wonderfully explained, thanks very much.

[@MattStranberg]

Great videos! Just discovered this channel and I am loving the content!

[@perseus07]

I see the videos are very clear, I don't know why some people deem them confusing.

[@rlstrick]

Thanks for your question. These videos were originally made for students reading assigned texts related to each video. However, I think the series will make more sense to someone who is new to Marxism if it is viewed in a sequence beginning with the "history of modernity" videos ("Economic Conditions of Modernity," "Individual and Society in Modernity," etc), followed by the "Historical Materialism," "Labor Theory of Value" and "Commodities and Commodity Fetishism" videos.

[@fleurgi]

Great Video. It's helping me so much in studying for my test on this upcoming Friday.

[@kanalarchis]

Curious. 5 years later, what job did you get?

[@dubitataugustinus]

Thanks a lot for this helpful video! it is a very complete summary for those who have read the author or are familiar with the thematic corpus. Just what I was looking for!

[@rlstrick]

I got into the habit of pronouncing it that way when I spent several months teaching and doing research as a grad student in London in 1985.... I suppose it might sound like an affectation, but, I'd have to make a conscious effort to say it the other way by now! But, one point to note from Althusser--though ideology is false consciousness, it's very nearly the only consciousness we have. It's very difficult--at some level, impossible--to think one's way out of this box.

[@rlstrick]

I think the term "dialectical materialism" has sometimes been used in a way that is ahistorical--it asserts that the fundamental historical condition is class struggle, but "class" and "struggle" need to be defined more specifically--historicized. I think Gramsci wrote, somewhere, in reference to DM, that it was a method, not a dogma. I don't know about claims that DM is "ruling-class mysticism"--maybe it refers to rigid definitions of the term associated with Stalinism.

[@mattpolofka]

It seems like we almost need another word to distinguish ideology in general from ideology in particular. I often find myself discussing particular ideologies with someone who holds them, criticizing their ideology and at some what we are talking about shifts to ideology in general and they say something like "well you have to have some kind of ideology". It's very frustrating because many good people are doing very bad things that seem benign or even good in the name of their ideology.

[@TheodoreBolha]

An ideology is like any other free-standing sign or banner. It stands there while the ones who put it up are free to do as they please. Let your deeds be your ideology.

[@badger279]

wow! look at all those books! this guy must be really smart!

[@tithonus22]

great webcast truly informative... has helped a lot, thanks and please continue the good work...

[@shankarsubedi2257]

very brief and succinct recounting of a complex concept.

[@chagoriver7159]

great video. than you very much.

[@rlstrick]

Althusser doesn't offer a way out of his interpellation box.... this is why many cultural studies theorists shifted toward Gramsci in the 1980s. Gramsci's conception of "hegemony" was seen as more useful than "interpellation" and Gramsci's "organic intellectual" could be a "radical subject." I think Althusser is most useful as a negative theorist. But I think also he can be creatively "misread" in a way that allows some slippage in hegemonic interpellation.

[@ayanaim5973]

Thank you sir for the useful video. Could you please give further explanation about ideology and hegemony in media

[@amanieezzeddine2562]

thank you for posting this it has helped a lot!

[@zomerdromer]

Waw, thank you! I'm studying my course 'cultural mediastudies' now and this makes everything much clearer!

[@alexandrialgardner]

Thank you!

[@maggietweedie1160]

Completely agree Jayne! So helpful for my media paper. Thankyou Ron

[@tomsega]

@TallFastLoud No. There are two major definitions of ideology as far as social theory is concerned. The first is the popular conception of ideology as a 'world view'. Nine out of ten times I hear the word, it's used in this simple sense. The second is ideology in the Marxist sense, which refers to received consciousness (more or less 'indoctrination'), where 'ideology' is an insidious thing, to be regarded with suspicion.

[@SuedeSwede]

Hello, I love your series but in this webcast, I'm a little confused by the segment involving the camera obscura metaphor. Are you saying that our perception of ideology could be described as backwards or upside down, i.e. we think our ideas/beliefs originate with ourselves and are projected outwards, when in reality our ideas are the reflection of dominant ideologies being handed down to us? Also, what is interpellation? Thank you.

[@tenzinchoedon4431]

Hey Ron! That was indeed a great help. Thank you so much. But i have question. How would you differentiate Marxist concept ideology from that of "social stock of knowledge" of Berger and Luckmann?

[@Jaluzaga]

Thanks for sharing!

[@wenaolong]

I'm reevaluating their meaning and purpose. It might be time to reorganize the information I've presented into a new format, or several formats, for the better awakening of Real Spirits. I'm not sure I'm reaching the Real Spirits most efficiently by the current format. Continue your meditations as usual. Learn to separate yourself from your nemesis or you will never be Free.

[@fatimapatel496]

thanks a ton sir! this lecture is indeed very helpful ....

[@uristra]

good series! i'm going to try to view all the videos.

[@maxthemadman]

cheers for this, it really helped. one thing still troubling me though. I'm still not really sure on the word Interpellation. Am I right in thinking it's the handing down of culture & ideology from one ruling class to their respective subjective class?(bourgeoisie to prol, for example)

[@rastabus]

...you should create playlists then. Thankyou for your good work so far and please keep it up.

[@edthoreum7625]

4:40 ,interpolation -"hey you"individual is called into subject position; involuntary to a hailing?

[@Tierralunave]

Hello, thank you for the video. Very interesting. I have a question, do you know what kind of controversy existed between Lacan and Althusser (about ideology and interpellation, I think) ?

[@marthicia]

Thank you for the video!

[@coolboyjc]

Thank you for this webcast.

[@crumlinkangaroos4565]

So what is an ideology and where can I find one?

[@pablokas]

Muy buen material!!! Very good stuff!!!

[@immaculatezulu]

nice and clear

[@briancooney5522]

Thanks for this!

[@ProletarianTakeover]

Thanks so much.

[@rlstrick]

You're welcome... glad you found it useful!

[@Sheepsh0t]

thank you !!

[@XxRTGxX]

Hello, I have been a long fan of your videos, I Have learned a lot from you, unfortunately recently I have tried to rewatch your videos but all of them are Private. Please tell me how i can view your videos again.

[@mothermayhem1978]

Thank you Professor Strickland. As I follow criminology I find that the inclusion of the ideological state subject theory leaves me feeling like i live in a masked panopticon state that is ever evolving. Is the increase surveilance across the globe fueling the battle for power to the point that those desiring the privacy they are conditioned to love revolt in anarchy on FB? Could our level of policing increase and invade to the point of absolute pandemonium? Every crim theory i follow says yes!

[@TheAnisXX]

You should have talked about the non materiality of ideas

[@WolfPharoah]

(And yes, I am a sociologist who thinks that Marxism can 'still' be applied throughout 'Post-modernity' and its succeeding periods, ex infinitum...)

[@comradepinko]

Or a breakdown of general ideology into specific?

[@wenaolong]

Pawn of the Demiurgos, how do you do? Have you evolved in this incarnation? Was your body made reasonably comfortable for you efforts of condoning the sloppy handiwork of your maker?

[@TallFastLoud]

@tomsega i think you're missing the point, ideology describes any coherent worldview. there is no escaping it by definition. the real question is -- /what/ ideology

[@rudyleyva]

greetings professor, quick question. I've been racking my head for a while and cannot really find a difference between basic socialization theory and Althusser's notion of interpellation. Can you suggest a difference?

[@amessagefromthepatriots]

Do you have a bibliography of references? This would be great for my essay!

[@pennyfish89]

4:37　individual as social subjects

[@pennyfish89]

5:23 individuals do not have concious choice towards the assignments of...

[@tomsega]

I like the way you say 'ideology', although at first it sounds a bit bizzare. 'Idi' - like in 'idiocy' - does the term more justice than pronouncing it like 'ideal'. Indeed, many people, especially politicans, use 'ideology' as a positive thing; a 'world view'. When in fact, the sociological use of the word is generally very different. It is false consciousness!

[@meedmaad2485]

simply, it's a cultural flaw

[@ricshmitz83]

EYE-DEE-OLOGY!

[@allybaapp1053]

both pass.

[@pennyfish89]

1st step, prepare some ideas 2nd step, mix idea and ology then, viola, you got Ideology so the EYE-Dee-Ology is the correct pronouciation IMHO

[@nabilchouaaybe7327]

أي عربي يترجم لنا هذا الفيديو🤔🤔

[@TheJuga]

Dude your like Strickland from Back to the Future

[@arzoyan]

Ideology arises from a limited mode of production ,distorting the social reality in the interest of the ruling class. In feudalism the society was hierarchical hence the religious expression. In capitalism, working class wage slavery are expressed as freedom in a monetary web of control and domination of the capitalist class. Karl Marx used the word ideology with a negative meaning . Ideology cannot be abolished by mere criticism but by revolutinary overthrow of capitalism .

[@dlind36]

Iom

[@egapnala65]

Very interesting I am sure. Has nothing to do with eradicating the spread of foodbanks in the U.K or preventing the ever increasing threat globalisation poses to the livings of blue collar workers but, hey, it pays the bills..

[@falgunichaudhary8094]

Eclat!

[@osheaad]

The video speaker needs work on his presentation. I hate when this 'scholarly' theme is emphasized too much; really annoying and distracting that it is hard to initially grasp his message, so annoying. Good luck anyway.

[@rudyleyva]

greetings professor, quick question. I've been racking my head for a while and cannot really find a difference between basic socialization theory and Althusser's notion of interpellation. Can you suggest a difference?