Whose Hand Writes the Story of ‘Us’? Vulnerability to Identity Interpellations in a Nonrepressive Social Context

Balkan Journal of Philosophy 16 (1):55-62 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

I propose a reconsideration of the role that ‘interpellations’ play in the dynamic process of identity construction. ‘Interpellation’ is a quasi-technical term introduced by Louis Althusser (1969) that I reinterpret using the lens of contemporary social ontology. I therefore look at it as an identity proposal that the individual can either accept, reject, negotiate, or outright ignore. In the original text, Althusser mentions the fact that the individual’s acceptance is the essential moment of an interpellation, but he does not elaborate on the other options available to the individual. I believe it is important to analyze the individual’s options and the factors that may influence whether the individual’s freedom of choice is fully exercised in such contexts. I further discuss the human vulnerabilities that cause ‘interpellations’ to be adopted without much reflection, even in the absence of a repressive system that would try to enforce a mainstream ideology.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 93,296

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-05-23

Downloads
6 (#1,485,580)

6 months
6 (#587,658)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references