A2 Media Studies The Media and Collective Identity

(05) Althusser & Gramsci 2 political theorists who had something to say about the family and the media

Althusser – identity and ideology Althusser was a Marxist theorist who argued that identity was created by “Ideological State Apparatuses” (ISAs) such as education, law, the family, the media and religion.

1 He believed that humans were made into subjects

through ideology. A person’s views and attitudes are the products of ideology 'speaking through' the subject. We are not really individuals with free choices, but are determined by the sum total of all the ideological formations which speak through us. The state creates us and “interpellates” us in certain ways which mean that we find it natural to behave as the state wishes us to. A vision of the future of interpellation is seen in Minority Report as Tom Cruise walks through a shopping mall. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBaiKsYUdvg. Althusser’s ideas have been seen as very deterministic about identity and others have argued that in fact we do have some ability to overcome our ideological positioning, otherwise there would never be any struggle about ideology, which there clearly is. What is useful about Althusser for our purposes is that he clearly argues that mainstream commercial media, and the family, are both involved in attempting to reproduce good little subjects for capitalist society. Is this true? We will need to investigate.

Gramsci – the concept of hegemony Gramsci was another important Marxist theorist. He argued that the ideological perspectives ruling groups in society tended to actually become the ruling ideological perspectives through the fact that the state and the media tended to take these ideas for granted and make them “common sense”. This process of the ideology of the ruling groups becoming the ruling ideology was called hegemony.

HEY YOU! MEDIA STUDENT! HERE IS YOUR HOMEWORK, which of course you will do because you are a good student, who wants to succeed: (You have just been interpellated). In these boxes write some biographical detail and a small summary of the main ideas of these two important theorists:

1 He argues they are backed up by the “Repressive State Apparatuses” of the Police, the Army etc when necessary.

Althusser - biography Gramsci – biography

Key ideas Key ideas

A2 Media Studies The Media and Collective Identity

Abraham Maslow The theorist behind the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ from A Theory of Human Motivation (1943) Maslow – the hierarchy of needs Maslow conducted research into people’s needs. He looked at what we as humans need(ed) most and then he placed them in a hierarchy (order) that placed physiological needs, such as the need to sleep, eat, ‘use the bathroom’, etc., at the bottom and the need for self-actualisation at the top. The wider base of the pyramid houses all of the requirements that we as humans have whereas the narrower summit contains the needs that only some people have as they are not necessities for survival.

1. Survival (needed/strived for by everyone) 2. Safety 3. Human 4. Self-respect

5. Mastery of needs and reaching your full potential (needed/strived for by some) Although this is potentially a useful tool that can be used to place individuals to give them a sense of belonging or understanding of their own circumstance, it was also only part of a limited study that only concerned itself with labels rather than diversity within those labels.