Louis Althusser
Wow, I feel like I haven’t written one of these in forever, here we go. Although it feels good to be done with the comic book, I’m remembering how much I hated carrying around and reading this book, shucks. Okay, for Althusser…hmm. I actually wish I got more out of this than I actually did, I couldn’t really get into it (mostly because I’m used to having colorful pictures and now I don’t have them anymore!) Although I didn’t feel that I got much out of this, I think breaking it down might help. The first section that caught my attention was that of the Reproduction of Labour-Power. He starts off by explaining how this reproduction is ensured. “It is ensured by giving labour power the material means with which to reproduce itself: by wages (as in money). He then goes on to say that “this quantity of value (wages) necessary for the reproduction of labour power is determined not by the needs of a biological guaranteed minimum wage alone, but by the needs of a historical minimum…” In saying this, I feel that he means this is determined by the individual. They need to gain these wages in order to buy the essentials that are needed to live (argh! Why does this always sound better in my head?!) I wasn’t sure what the biological guaranteed minimum wage really was at first, it was soon described as a struggle between different classes. I feel that this idea of class struggle came up in another reading; I’m just not sure which one right now. Then comes the idea of infrastructure, superstructure and ideology. The infrastructure and superstructure seem somewhat alright for me, but as for ideology, nope, not so much. I’m hoping this concept will be tackled in class and I can gain a better understanding of what he is actually trying to get at here. Ideology has no history? ummm, is that possible?
I’m sure this blog seems a little confusing, mostly because it is, but all in all, I felt that this was what I mostly understood of it. I know it’s not much but I guess it’s something. As for Althusser as a whole, I felt that he continued to refer back to the idea of a structure (as did many of the other readings we have done). Society is a structure and towards the end be brings up the idea of class struggle again. “It is only from the point of view of the classes, i.e. of the class struggle, that it is possible to explain ideologies existing in a social formation.” I need some clarification on this one, that’s for sure.
Hey Elizabeth,
I missed half of this class so I don’t know if this was addressed to your better understanding. I’m working it out for myself as well here.
My take on the Althusser quote you chose is that minimum wage is determined by the opposite of what you describe. The labor force doesn’t get to declare its biological needs. Minimum wage, instead, is determined by the absolute least amount of capital investment required to produce a product worth more than the cost of it’s labor to produce. Since profit is the only mark of success in capitalism, labor value (people) must be exceeded (exploited) by sales. The whole system is driven by a quest for money, not the folks just getting by.
The historical minimum comes in here and can be demonstrated by current events. Typing “minimum wage” into Yahoo News produces hundreds of articles, mostly from local newspapers, discussing what it takes to survive on so little. This one from Madison Wisconsin points out the blatant fact that minimum wage hasn’t been raised for eight years. This is the same historical precedent Althusser presents, one which allows the status quo to exist even though survival on so little becomes difficult.
The recent proposal to raise minimum wage is still hung up because giving a break to those people who struggle with so few earnings is attached to a tax break for corporations. Guess who comes out ahead (by a long shot) even if the minimum wage is increased. Look at this sickening fact found at http://www.epinet.org/:
And the machine continues to churn…
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago-Kim