KS100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Louis Althusser, Masculinity, Essentialism
Document Summary
Representation: the social production of meaning through sign systems. Social constructivism: belief that identity is not inherent within an individual/group, but is rather a creation of cultural, political & historical forces. Essentialism: belief that individuals/groups have innate features exclusive to their category. Freud believed the stages of identity development are critical for an individual"s integration into society. Psychosocial development consists of 2 key stages: recognition of sexual difference, the acquisition of language. Ideology secures the acceptance of the working class by presenting capitalism as being natural" and individually freeing". Ideology is the disguised expression of underlying economic relations. Althusser adapts this theory by including isas (social structures) to explain how ideology is produced. Interpellation: process by which individual is called on" by ideology to assume a certain identity. Women are assigned the role of the other" in relation to men. The sex which is not one" women are constructed as less than whole & negative.
