Counterinterpellation and Student Narratives, Inclusion or Resistance?

• In Event: Education and Counterinterpellation: A New Look at Louis Althusser

Abstract

Louis Althusser described ideology as “the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (p. 162). The existence of ideology thus transforms individuals into subjects through the process of interpellation. Ideological State Apparatuses such as the church in the past, or education today play an important role in shaping the individual’s acceptance of their ideological self-formation. Unlike the repressive state apparatuses that function essentially through force, ISAs, like education, enable subjects to appear to work “all by themselves” by inculcating students into the practices of the dominant ideology. The subject comes to recognize his/her interpellation as natural, as certainty, and fails to reject or question his function in the capitalist social order. His/her experiences appear within institutional contexts where in his/her identity is affirmed and the capitalist relations of production are reproduced.
This paper looks at feminist pedagogues’ inclusion of student narratives in existing institutional structures and the challenges posed by Marxist theorists to this approach. Feminist pedagogy echoes feminist theory in the validation of lived experiences as a basis of study, research and understanding the world. By identifying the patriarchal construction of “objective knowledge”, feminist approaches to epistemology challenge the abstract, universality of knowing and acknowledge that knowers are always concrete individuals positioned in particular social relations. Thus for feminist pedagogues equitable inclusion of personal narratives can inform and liberate student learning: “equity fosters the individual voice in the classroom, investing students with confidence in their own authority” (Brown, p. 55). For some educators, marginalized students are “empowered” simply when their voices are included in the classroom. However, by engaging in this “politics of difference" liberal feminist pedagogies may choose to include student narratives without providing opportunities for students to critically examine their experiences within a patriarchal, capitalist society. This inclusion works to develop student identities within their institutional context where individuals are pushed to accept their subjection by the ruling class.
This paper argues against the inclusion of student narratives into the dominant ideology and contends that critical and feminist pedagogues ought to engage student narratives in resistance to the hegemonic capitalist ideology. Drawing on Jacques Lecerle’s “counter-interpellation”, the paper establishes student narratives as a central place for critical analysis and struggle. By recognizing the performance of their relation to others, students identify their ability to counter-interpellate and lay claim to their experiences in and outside the classroom. The paper concludes by framing the potential for radical change in the understanding that ISAs, such as education, operate to reproduce the relations of production, but also operate as the site of class struggle and are therefore key to revolutionary practice.

Althusser, L. (1971). Lenin and philosophy, and other essays. Vol. PB-213. New York: Monthly Review Press. 127-186.
Brown, J. (1992). “Theory or Practice- What Exactly is Feminist Pedagogy?” The Journal of General Education 41: 51-63.

Author

• Jessica Lussier, Teachers College, Columbia University