Ideological State Apparatuses, Consumerism, and U.S.

Capitalism:
Lessons for the Left

Althussers pioneering concept of ideological state apparatuses is extended to the unique
role of consumerism as a particular ideology enabling and supporting U.S. capitalism. It is
argued that rising levels of worker consumption have functioned effectively to compensate
workers for (and thereby allow) rising rates of exploitation and their negative social effects.
For such compensation to succeed requires that
workers embrace an ideology stressing the importance of consumption, namely
consumerism. It is argued that the weakness of the US left (in labor unions, parties,
and movements) stems in part from having endorsed this consumerism rather than
undermining it within the framework of an anti-capitalist politics.