1. ‘There is no ideology, except by the subject and for the subjects’ (Louis
Althusser). Interpret Althusser's statement in relation to the Marxist
understanding of the relationship between subjectivity and ideology. You should
refer in detail to Althusser's essay, as well as other relevant extracts concerning
Marxism and ideology in the Norton anthology.
Ideology by the subject works to justify their existence and way of life, whereas the
ideology for the subject is to maintain the status quo as well as reproduce its
conditions of production. Althussers objective is to analyze the continuation of
societal order and the failure of the working classes to seek equality. ‘We must say
that Marx did not give us any theory of the transition from one mode of production
to another.’ (RC, 197) The reproduction of the conditions for labour is ensured by
social compliance to the system. To survive in the established order of society, its
subjects must become part of its behavioural norms, an unconscious decision that
begins before birth, and in turn maintain its course towards further reproduction by
set example. Althusser writes to fill the gap in Marxist theory on the maintenance of
the capitalistic structure, feeling the need to point out the resource driven ideology
of the proletariat for submitting to established societal structures and setting an
example for following generations. Striving towards an ideology of materialism
inherent from before birth, the subject is too preoccupied with stature in society
along with fulfilling their desires, thus maintaining societal order, to rise up against
the inequalities of the classes.
The two structures maintaining order in society, as seen in Marxist theory, is the
infra and superstructure. Althusser agrees that the infrastructure acts like the base,
relying on the unity of the productive forms and the relations of production, while
the superstructure is built on repressive state apparatus along with ideologies that
make the world function smoothly. Arguing that the superstructure would never be
able to exist if the base infrastructure wasn’t in place, Althusser explores the part
ideology has to play in maintaining the status quo and the means through which it
reproduces the necessary modes of production. Marxist theory sees ideology as
another repressive apparatus of the state, which works to ensure power remains
within the higher-class. Manipulation of this power is the objective of class struggle;
meaning ideology is vital for the state to maintain its control. In insuring control of
subject’s ideology, the system works to the continuation of its established order. The
superstructure, Althusser argues, is therefore determined by effectivity of the base.
This opposes the Marxist view of ideology as a product of capitalist exploitation that
it serves to mask, instead recognizing ideology as a necessity for the normative
carrying out of duties, echoing the Lacanian viewpoint of ‘imaginary order’ in which
we yearn to fulfill our self perception and desires.
In order for a societal structure to maintain the existing conditions of production, it
must ensure the reproduction of productive forces, such as labourers, and the
existing relations of production, such as the capitalist structure of which they are
part. For productive forces to be reproduced, the system provides positions either

2. within production itself, such as apprenticeship, or this is done through the
capitalist education system, in which a common set of ideologies insure the
reproduction of likeminded generations of subjects. The end goal of course, is in
ensuring the reproduction of subjects’ submission to the rules of the established
system.. In discussing the means for sustaining a social order, education plays the
key role of binding generations with the same perspective; harbouring their views
and projecting them back out into society to continue the cycle. By submitting to the
school system, children become subjects to a common ideology. They are taught in a
way that would be practical to society, and in turn its ideology. Education as an
Ideological State Apparatus, in Althusser’s view, works to ensure the subjects’
‘submissions to the rules of the established order’, as well as a usefulness ‘inserted
into practices’ (Lenin 114) Ideology is essential in the consciousness of subjects to
allow them to carry out their societal duties and maintain coherence within the
system, allowing control and dominance by those on top.
Another key point to Althusser’s reasons for the reproduction of conditions of
production is the earning of an income to provide an education to the children of the
subject. It is material means, Althusser argues, that fortifies capitalist societal
structure. In the exchange of labour for wages, workers sell the control of their own
actions to the provider of their sustenance and thus wedge themselves into the
established system. "Each mass (…) is practically provided with the ideology which
suits the role it has to fulfill in class society" (Lenin 105) By earning an income for
the education of ones children, the entire family is segregated to its subjection to the
capitalist economical structure, and the children carry this perception on into their
future. By this framework, it is unsurprising why the proletariat would not rise
against their ruling oppressors: they themselves strive to eventually be the agents of
exploitation and repression. To rebel against the established system would be to
scrutinize their means of existence, and in turn damaging themselves and their
stature in society. Whatever glimpse of a higher-class life that they get, be it through
commodities or desire to fulfill an ideology, insures their compliance with hope that
their advantage is reflective of their individual contribution to society, like a reward.
This stimuli ensures the reproduction of the conditions of production in society, and
explains how Althusser differs from Marx in his approach to ideology, seeing it as
both a driving force for the continuation of the existing societal structure, and as a
necessity for its subjects to survive within the system.
In Marxist theory, ideology is perceived as a theory that is out of touch with the
material processes of history. It is a science of ideas that is perceived by society in
reverse to the true nature of control. Ideology acts as a false consciousness, which is
the most suitable viewpoint when justifying the working class apathy towards their
treatment, and thus their inaction towards inequality in society. However, for
Althusser, ideology signifies the fundamental condition of human consciousness,
something that is inseperable from material and historical processes. Althusser is
influenced by Lacans “The Mirror Stage” as a standpoint on the formation of a social
subject, in which ideology exists even before the birth of the subject. Ideology has

3. the primary function of “constituting concrete individuals and social
subjects”(Len116), allowing for the reproduction of the existing system. An
individual becomes a subject without making a conscious choice on the matter; one
is assigned a gender, born into a family, given a name, race, nationality and stature
in the class system. In summarizing Althussers, Smith (184) says that each subject
can be seen as ‘ set of internally imposed limitations on its number of permutations
and combinations which have no necessary or genetic links to other systems.’
Unlike Marx, who argues that all ideology works to preserve state power, Althusser
differentiates Ideology in general and ideology in particular. In general, it is an
understanding close to the Marxist standpoint: ideology is the understanding
between subject and state in which the boundaries of societal thought are
determined. However, ideology in particular is an ideology that binds certain
subjects by form of traditions, certain shared values and understandings of reality.
Volosinov (11) echoes this vision: ‘the logic of consciousness is the logic of
ideological communication, of the semiotic interaction of a social group.’
The effectiveness of Ideological State Apparatuses depends on the foundations of
the repressive State Apparatuses, which are used in times of necessity in the form of
violent action. However, the repressive cant function without the best interest of
society in mind, its ideological standpoint, otherwise it would not maintain
dominance. They are interdependent on each other in maintaining social order, and
upon imbalance create the potential for breakdown. Societal formation has to
recreate and re-impose itself in face of continual evolvement of new historical
circumstance, the process in which ideology plays the key role. The superstructure,
therefore, is dependent on the way in which ideology forms subjects, as they are the
ones to whom power will be passed on. Exemplifying the power and significance of
language, Derrida contradicts de Saussure and maintains that societal language is
constantly in shift. This way, language of the ideology must constantly be adapting
to the function it was made serve and reflects the superstructures’ dependence on
the infrastructure for orientation and purpose. Williams (1575) notes on the
importance of literature with regard to Marxism ‘in each transition, is a historical
development of social language itself: finding new means, new forms and then new
definitions of a changing practical consciousness’.
Marxist theory states that revolution is inevitable; for once the proletariat
acknowledge their oppressed situation, they will rise to overthrow the existing
unequal conditions and reclaim power for the people. Ideology masks the reality of
capitalist intention and reverses the view of the world for the proletariat, keeping
them from rebellion. Althusser, on the other hand, works to break down the effect of
ideology in maintaining state power, claiming this to be because of its ability to
reproduce its conditions for production. For Althusser, ideology is a necessary mode
of function in society in so far as it keeps affairs running smoothly. The system
works to continue itself, adjusting to historical change in order to maintain a
dominant ideology in society. Althusser believes wages to be the ultimate ideology
in maintaining societal order. In explaining how the proletariat ironically works

4. towards maintaining the status quo of inequality, Althusser describes materialism
and the fulfillment of ideological as well as biological desires to be how the
individual recognizes the self. As a fulfiller of bodily and ideologically projected
desires, not only out of materialistic self-interest, but for stature in society, the
ideology under which the subject falls is determined on their success in the
capitalistic system, not just in any possible theory, as Marx argued, but as Smith
(179) says ‘into a theory of modes of production everywhere’.
Rather than the Marxist view of ideology as an oppressive enforcer of state power,
which works only to cover up the reality of capitalism with false notions, Althusser
argues that ideology has a part to play in forming the subjects’ desire to be part of
the system, as opposed to mere compliance. Ideology for the subject works to place
them within societal structure, where they form a self in comparison with others
they perceive to be like them, while ideology by the subject is a set of ideals that the
individuals impose on themselves to justify their position in society and continue to
take part in its functions and compete. Working only to prolong their existence and
build a platform for their children, the subjects of Ideological State Apparatus are
but puppets of its reproduction. As long as societal order ensures a means of earning
an income, which allows the worker to be a part of society, there is little chance of
them upheaving the system for fear of personal effects. Marx believes that ideology
works to reverse the perceptions of the working classes, however Althusser points
out that the only way for the subject to survive and fulfill their known desires is to
partake in ideologies known to them and shared by their fellow subjects, following
the rules and ultimately setting an example for future generations to follow. There is
no revolution because the subjects idealize their own subjectivity and strive to fulfill
its desires.

5. Reference List:
 Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” The Norton
Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et al. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2010. Print.
 Lacan, Jacques. ‘The Mirror Stage’; from ‘The Agency of the Letter’. The
Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et al.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2010. Print.
 Marx and Engels. “The German Ideology.” The Norton Anthology of Theory
and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et al. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc. 2010. Print.
 Marx and Engels. “The Communist Manifesto.” The Norton Anthology of
Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et al. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, Inc. 2010. Print.
 Marx and Engels. “Capital: Commodities.” The Norton Anthology of Theory and
Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et al. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc. 2010. Print.
 Smith, Steven B. “Reading Althusser: An Essay on Structural Marxism” London:
Cornell University Press Ltd, 1984.
 Voloshinov, Valentin Nikolaevich. “Marxism and the Philosophy of Language”
Cambridge, 1973.
 Williams, Raymond. “Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory.”
The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B et
al. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2010. Print.