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louis althusser was a french marxist philosopher who became known for his break from some of the key features of traditional marxism. for example, althusser rejected the idea of economic determinism, the idea that a society's economic system determines that society's general structure and, hence, it's political and social development. over time, even though he was a member of the french communist party, althusser came to be identified with "structural marxism," a systematic attempt to reinterpret marx in light of the work done by structuralists like levi-strauss.
louis althusser focused on the rule played by ideology. according to him, it is ideology which shapes our consciousness and social structures. ideology allows people to imagine that they are making free choices and deciding the course of their lives when, in fact, it is the ideology itself which is determine the "script" which they will follow. althusser referred to "ideological state apparatuses" which were state organizations that perpetuated specific ideological systems and helped impose them on people.
ideology can be represented in a number of different forms: myths, art, political ideas, and much more. this is another key aspect where his thought differed from the traditional marxism. whereas marxism normally postulated a one-to-one correspondence of cause (economics) and effect (social structure), althusser argued that the effect was "overdetermined," or the result of a number of interlocking effects.
althusser described his efforts as an attempt to construct what he called an "anti-humanism." the reason for this label was his desire to describe impersonal historical processes which direct human history rather than the actions of individual human beings. this is in close accord with the structuralist presumptions which downgrade the role of independent human agency in the course of history. in this, then, althusser opposed the work of more humanist marxists.
althusser's ideas became popular through the 1970's, although he himself became much less influential after he killed his wife and was confined to a psychiatric institution for several years. however, his work on ideology was continued very effectively by his student, michel foucault.
