Ideology and the state: the relevance of the Althusserian tradition in the analysis of COVID -19 management in Sweden

doi:10.31119/jssa.2022.25.3.5

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2022.25.3.5

Lika Rodin University of Skövde, Sweden lika.rodin@his.se

Для цитирования

Rodin L.(2022) Ideology and the state: the relevance of the Althusserian tradition in the analysis of COVID -19 management in Sweden. Журнал социологии и социальной антропологии, 25(3): 108-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2022.25.3.5

Аннотация

Althusser’s theory of Ideological State Apparatuses has often been marginalised over the last decade in academic discussions as reductionist and normative. This study aims to outline major critiques and the corresponding modifications of Althusser’s initial theoretical framework. This extended version of the theory is then applied to the analysis of politics related to COVID-19 in Sweden. A case is examined of an activist group named the Media Watchdogs of Sweden (MEWAS) that challenged the management of the pandemic by the Swedish authorities and mass media. As demonstrated in this study, Althusserian insights help explain shifts between democratic and oppressive regimes within society, as well as operationalise mechanisms of conformity and resistance.

Литература

Alexander J. (2006) The Civil Sphere. New York: Oxford University Press.

Althusser L. (2001) Ideology and ideological state apparatus. In: B. Brewster (transl.). Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. (pp. 85-126). New York: Monthly Review Press.

Balibar E. (1996) Structural causality, overdetermination, and antagonism. In: Callari A., Russio D.F. (eds.). Postmodern Materialism and the Future of Marxist Theory: Essays in the Althusserian Tradition. New England Hanover, London: Wesley University Press: 109-119.

Barrett M. (1991) The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Boswell T., Kiser E., Baker K. (1986) Recent developments in Marxist theories of ideology. Critical Sociology, 25(2/3). https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205990250022301

Brusselaers N., Steadson D., Bjorklund K., Breland S., Stilhoff S?rensen J., Ewing A., Bergmann S., Steineck G. (2022) Evaluation of science advice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9: 91. URL: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01097-5

Butler J. (1995) Conscience doth make subjects of us all. Yale French Studies, 88: 6-26.

Coiera E. (6 January, 1996) The Internet's challenge to health care provision. BMJ, 312: 3-4

Creswell J. (2013) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC: Sage.

Dean M. (2010) Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society. Los Angeles: Sage.

Elliot G. (2009) Althusser: The Detour of Theory. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books.

Foucault M. (1997) Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth: The Essential Works of Michel Foucault, 1954-1984. Vol 1. Rabinov P. (ed.), Hurley R. and others (trans.). New York: The New Press: 175-184.

Giritli Nygren, K. and A. Olofsson (2021) Swedish exceptionalism, herd immunity and the welfare state: A media analysis of struggles over the nature and legitimacy of the COVID-19 pandemic strategy in Sweden. Current Sociology, 69(4): 529-546.

Habermas J. (1992) The Civil Society–State Relationship in Contemporary Discourse: A Complementary Account from Giddens’ Perspective. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hall S. (1985) Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post-structuralist debates. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 2(2): 91-114.

Hirst P. (1976) Althusser and the theory of ideology. Economy and Society, 5(4): 385-412.

Lee C. (2022) Doxxing as discursive action in a social movement. Critical Discourse Studies, 19(3): 326-344. DOI: 10.1080/17405904.2020.1852093

Lock G. (1996) Subject, interpellation, and ideology. In: Callari A., Russio D.F. (eds.) Postmodern Materialism and the Future of Marxist Theory: Essays in the Althusserian Tradition. New England Hanover, London: Wesley University Press: 69-87.

Marx K. (2013) Capital. Herefordshire: Wordsworth.

Mishra S., Scott J., Laydon D., Flaxman S., Gandy A., Mellan T., Unwin J., Vollmer M., Coupland H., Ratmann O., Monod M., Zhu H., Cori A., Gaythorpe K., Whittles L., Whittaker Ch., Donnelly Ch., Ferguson N., and S. Bhatt (2021). Comparing the responses of the UK, Sweden and Denmark to COVID?19 using counterfactual modeling. Nature, 11: 16342. URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-95699-9

Montag W. (1995) “The soul is the prison of the body”: Althusser and Foucault, 1970-1975. Yale French Studies, 88: 53-77.

Negri A. (1996) Notes of the evolution of the thought of the late Althusser. In: Callari A., Russio D.F. (eds.) Postmodern Materialism and the Future of Marxist Theory: Essays in the Althusserian Tradition. New England Hanover, London: Wesley University Press: 51-68.

Poulantzas N. (1978a) Political Power and Social Classes. O'Hagan T. (transl.). London: Verso.

Poulantzas N. (1978b) State, Power, Socialism. Camillen P. (transl.). London: NLB.

Rehmann J. (2013) Theories of Ideology: The Power of Alienation and Subjection. Boston: Brill.

Rose N., Miller P. (1992) Political Power beyond the State: Problematics of Government. The British Journal of Sociology, 43(2): 173-205.

Smith S. (1984) Reading Althusser: An Essay on Structural Marxism. New York: Cornell University Press.

Therborn G. (1982) The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology. London: Verso.

Vogel G. (6 October, 2020) Sweden's gamble: The country's pandemic policies came at a high price—and created painful rifts in its scientific community. Science. URL: https://www.science.org/content/article/it-s-been-so-so-surreal-critics-...