On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Louis Althusser)

This book was a cumbersome read. At times I felt like I was following a winding river, meandering from subject to subject, but somehow always coming back to Althusser's main points. Once or twice, Althusser lost me for a moment or two. Like when he began to argue that ideology has no history. Eventually, I did figure out what it was he was trying to say.

Going into Althusser's book I was already familiar with many of his terms, having read an excerpt of the essay featured in Appendix two of the book, which is titled, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. Curiously, this essay is basically a summary of the key points of the entire book.

Althusser wrote On the Reproduction of Capitalism in the aftermath of May 1968. The book was originally in French, but has, of course, been translated. Althusser intended to write two volumes, but only this one, the first, was ever completed. Frequently within the book Althusser says he will refer to something in volume two, but of course, he never does, so at times there are some holes in his train of thought.

Additionally, Althusser builds off of and refers frequently to Marxist theory. Therefore, I would recommend at least a basic knowledge of Marx's Capital before trying to tackle this one.

Althusser was interested in class struggle and in determining why the relations of production were constantly reproduced. Althusser took the concept of the base and the superstructure, the base being the economic structure of a state and the superstructure a compilation of other structures which support and are supported by the economic base. Althusser suggests that ISAs, or Ideological State Apparatuses, are a part of the superstructure. These ISAs come in various formats, such as scholastic, religious, political and familial.

Scholastic ISAs, for example, function in the education system. Children are taught correct and incorrect modes of behaviour, such as work ethic and respect towards certain authorities. Althusser says that workers, or the proletariat,  are "hailed," or addressed, by Ideological State Apparatuses and are ultimately convinced to continue to support the economic base and the relations of production, whether they are consciously aware of the fact that they are doing so or not.

Althusser also uses the term Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs). Repressive State Appartuses support the economic base and the uphold the relations of production through force or the threat of force. For example, the threat of arrest, or of being hit over the head with a club for taking part in a protest, are RSAs.

Althusser goes into much more depth, touching on communist parties, the nature of ideology, and the conditions required for revolution. Essentially, though, he emphasizes that past revolutions, like the Russian and French revolutions, failed because bourgeois Ideological State Apparatuses remained in place and were not replaced by new proletariat Ideological State Apparatuses. So, the old ISAs continued to reproduce the old relations of production.

Perhaps Althusser's ideas seem overly complicated, but I assure you, once you read the book his theories will be somewhat clearer. Of course, Althusser is not for everyone. As I said at the start of this review, On the Reproduction of Capitalism is not a light read. It is however, an immensely satisfying one.