From Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses in Norton (1285-1311)

1. What’s the difference between production and reproduction, for Althusser? What are some of the specific ways in which the “conditions of production” must be reproduced in order to maintain the status quo of a given society? Why is “reproduction” particularly crucial and complex under the advanced capitalism of the late 20thC?
2. What does Althusser mean by the division between “infrastructure” and “superstructure”? How, then, does he subdivide the category of “superstructure”?
3. What is a “repressive state apparatus”? An “ideological state apparatus”? What are examples of each? What are some differences between RSAs and ISAs? At what points and in what ways do they bleed together?
4. In Althusser’s own words: “Why is the educational apparatus in fact the dominant ideological State apparatus in capitalist social formations, and how does it function?” (p. 1346).
5. What is Althusser’s definition of ideology on p. 1350? More importantly, what does it mean? What does Marx’s definition of ideology miss, according to Althusser?
6. In what sense does ideology have a “material existence”? I thought it was all about a fake image of the material realm!? (see p. 1352-3).
7. What does LA’s quote of Pascal mean?: Kneel down, move your lips in prayer, and you will believe”? See p. 1354.
8. What is “interpellation” or “hailing,” and why is it the central practice that characterizes ideology? See p. 1355.
9. At the end of the essay, Althusser describes the totality of the system of ideology: its capture of every individual as “always already” a subject of the State. Is there any hope, then, of escaping this system? What hints does Althusser give on this score? What do you think about this argument?