An Analysis Of Althusser’s Theory Of Ideological State Machine

Louis Althusser was one of the representatives of modern Marxism theory in the west.He studied Marx’s view of the state and produced new ideas through the re-reflection of Marxism theory.The ideological state machine is not only the scientific theory of the state,but also the historical traces of its own era: a kind of bourgeois intellectuals occupy the ideological field for the ideological leadership,and seek the rationality of the ideological state machine according to the circumstances at that time.Although there are some defects in the theory,it reveals the running logic of capitalist social ideology and awakens people’s new cognition of it.Based on the theoretical basis and practical mode of the ideological state machine,the research direction of socialist ideology should be adjusted on the basis of its theoretical operation mode.The ideological state machine theory comes from many sources,among which the key ones are Marxist ideology,Freudian psychoanalysis and Gramsci’s "cultural hegemony" theory.These ideological theories provide references in many aspects of the ideological state machine.Its essential function is mainly embodied in bearing the reproduction of social relations of production and serving the will of the ruling class as a tool,hidden is the ideology of the ruling class.In the aspect of exploring the specific content of the ideological state machine,we should further dialectically view the relationship between the ideological state machine and the repressive state machine as well as the main functional institutions and operating mechanisms of the ideological state machine.The contribution of the ideological state machine lies in the enrichment of the Marxist theory of the state.The main limitation of the contribution is manifested in the deviation from the function of the economic foundation,the deviation from the revolutionary practice mode of the proletariat and the dissolution of the subjective initiative of the subject.Although the theory of ideological state machine has its own defects and shortcomings,it can provide useful enlightenment for the construction of ideological work in our country.