State Apparatuses By Antonio Gramsci - 1430 Words

I have been for the most part skeptical about whether Louis Althusser’s essay on state apparatuses accomplishes anything not previously explained in more humanistic and less functionalist terms by Antonio Gramsci. Indeed, although there appears to be a clear divergence between the two insofar as Gramsci associates ideological work with civil society whereas Althusser locates it in the state, even this distinction is not as stark in light of certain passages in Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Gramsci’s historically specific analysis of domination through hegemony simply seemed to me to constitute a social theory that better accounts for contingency, agency, and change. After further reflection, however, it also clear to me that we can improve upon it by incorporating Althusser’s useful references to materiality and production. Before explaining Althusser’s contribution to theories of ideology and the state, it is necessary to review Gramsci’s own writings on the topic, particularly since his definition of the state and its functions varies a great deal within his fragmented notes from 1929-1936. The particular conception with which Gramsci is perhaps most associated is found in â€Å"State and Civil Society†Ã¢â‚¬â€the dichotomous title of which is highly suggestive—in which he describes the state as â€Å"the coercive and punitive force of juridical regulation of a country.† It was Gramsci’s attention to ideological struggles in the voluntary associations and private institutions ofShow MoreRelatedThe History Of The Library Profession938 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Ambrosio (2013), reflecting on the history of the library profession, invokes Antonio Gramsci, who said that a critical understanding of the self also requires the development of an ethical stance, a se t of values, principles, and virtues to guide one’s moral conduct (Ambrosio, 2013, p. 328). Lacking such ethics or praxis, librarians are vulnerable to the dominant political ideology. â€Å"The way to overcome paralysis is the consciousness of what one really is and knowing oneself. It begins withRead MoreWalter Benjamin s Critique Of Violence2776 Words   |  12 Pagesassumption that just means will inevitably produce just ends as a matter of course. Benjamin goes onto explicate how this line of reasoning therefore finds itself engaged with a series of questions about the historical foundations and legal validation of state violence. Having set up the two sides of this antinomy, Benjamin makes his argument that both positive and natural law are dependent on a paradoxical logic. In both cases, justice must be found in the correlation between means and ends, where theRead MoreState Is Not A Unified Entity Essay2323 Words   |  10 PagesAfter this background, the state is briefly a distinct set of institutions that has the authority to make the rules, which govern a society. As Max Weber stated, it has a monopoly on the use of legitimate violence within a specific territory (Weber 1919/2009). Thus, the state consists of the institutions such as the military, the police, judiciary, bureaucracy, civil services, the parliament, local and national selected representatives. Thus, the state is not a unified entity. Indeed, it looks likeRead MoreEssay on A Role for Religion in Public Service3653 Words   |  15 PagesService ABSTRACT: In this paper I discuss recent scholarly work on ideology, mostly by Europeans, that exposes a secularist bias in current political theory, invites a nonderogatory concept of religion, and (I argue) justifies more flexible church/state relations. This work involves (1) redefining ideology as any action-oriented ideas, whether destructive or ameliorative, including both secular theory and religion, then (2) drawing on hermeneutical and critical studies of the power/ideology relationshipRead MoreEssay on Foucaults Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison2301 Words   |  10 Pagesa period extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Today, however, under the conditions of global modernity, the relevance of his contribution is often called into question. With the increasing ubiquity of markets, the break up of centralized states and the dissolution of national boundaries, the world today seems far removed from the bounded, disciplinary societies Foucault described in his most famous books. Far from disciplinary, society today is â€Å"post panoptic,† as Nancy Fraser has arguedRead MoreState, Political Economy And Governanc2013 Words   |  9 PagesState, Political Economy and Governanc HOW DO YOU ENCOUNTER STATE AND CITIZENSHIP IN YOUR DAILY LIFE? UNDERSTANDING STATE: The modern word state has been derived from the word â€Å"status† earlier employed by Teutons. It was Niccolo Machiavelli who first used the term â€Å"state† in political science. From the beginning of social life, mankind has lived under some kind of authority. The authority has varied in its nature and has exercised its