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person1950s-1980s

Louis Althusser

Summary

Louis Althusser (1918–1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who developed structural Marxism, rethinking Marx's theory of ideology through his concepts of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) and Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs), and interpellation.

Core Contribution

Introduced ISAs/RSAs as the mechanism by which capitalist ideology reproduces itself through institutions like schools, churches, and media; the concept of interpellation became foundational to cultural studies.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • structural Marxism
  • ideology
  • ISA
  • interpellation

Notable Works & Achievements

For Marx

Reading Capital

Lenin and Philosophy

On the Reproduction of Capitalism

Historical Influences

Marx Spinoza Bachelard Gramsci

Intellectual Lineage

Marx Spinoza structuralism French Communist Party

Contemporaries & Peers

Sartre Foucault Lévi-Strauss

Minds Influenced

Étienne BalibarNicos PoulantzasStuart Hall cultural studies

Intellectual Posterity

No conceptual posterity found.

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