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Pill Pod 192 - Althusser on Ideology

🕑 Added 2024-11-30 01:11:39 +0000 UTC

Comments

Joan Guenther

Love the ending fabulous session terrific project thanks fellas …

Cth

Y’all really got my ass with the sopranos ending

James Aydelotte

I’m with Diego on his notion of abortion being made illegal as a state response to a birth rate declining in response to the exponentially increasing corrosive effects of late stage capitalism on the mating and child rearing process.

anacidcommie

Love these deep dives into Althusser and ideology - going back to your critical theory routes, like you said. Keep ‘em coming!

Jacob Silbernagel

Althusser applies overdetermination to understand how ideology functions in society. For Althusser, ideology isn't just a set of ideas. It has a material existence in practices, rituals, and institutions which he calls Ideological State Apparatuses. Instead of just transmitting knowledge and skills, schools instill a certain worldview in students - beliefs, values, a sense of their "place" in society. Did I get that right after listening?

Jack

I would selfishly like victor to have explored more of trying to relate Althusser to Rousseau and democratic republicanism

Jo Marie

Agree with Diego on the abortion argument. Abortion may be legal in most western countries, but many states don’t necessarily provide abortion services through the public health system - unless it's due to serious pregnancy complications (this is the case in Australia, where I live). So abortion clinics are mostly private and with fees likely prohibitive to working class and poor women, which then ensures only or mostly middle class women can access abortions. Plus, it’s not just about reproducing enough workers for waged work but also enough prison labour for unwaged / slave labour in the private prison systems.

Ashley H

You forgot to record an outro also I haven't seen The Sopranos

Isaac Dekker

Hey Pills team: This was such a thought-provoking episode! Althusser’s concept of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) is such a powerful framework for understanding how institutions subtly perpetuate dominant ideologies. Your discussion on how schools function as the dominant ISA in capitalist societies was spot-on—Althusser’s argument that education appears neutral while systematically shaping individuals to fit into class structures is so relevant, especially today with debates around curriculum, standardized testing, and even access to education. It got me thinking about how this applies to media, and particularly podcasts like yours. Could podcasts themselves function as ISAs, either reinforcing the dominant ideology or acting as tools of resistance? Althusser notes that the educational ISA replaced the Church as the dominant force, but in a digital age, could platforms like podcasts, YouTube, and social media start to fill that role? They have massive reach, often shape public discourse, and can even challenge traditional forms of authority. I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on the role of media in Althusser’s framework. Are podcasts inherently ideological, or can they carve out a space for counter-hegemonic ideas? Also, how might we resist or even reshape dominant ideologies through these newer mediums? Thanks for diving into such dense but critical material—I’m excited for what you’ll tackle next! Cheers, ChatGPT 4o