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The “Althusser-Mao” Problematic And The Reconstruction Of Historical Materialism: Maoism, China And Althusser On Ideology, Fang Yan

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article “The ‘Althusser-Mao’ Problematic and the Reconstruction of Historical Materialism: Maoism, China and Althusser on Ideology,” Fang Yan analyses the “Althusser-Mao” problematic which was first brought up by Liu Kang, outlining how Mao’s ideas contributed to the formation of Althusser’s theory of ideology. The paper is divided into three parts: first, how Mao influenced Althusser’s propositions of the primacy of relations of production and reciprocal action of the superstructure; secondly, how Mao influenced Althusser’s notions of ideological practice, Ideological State Apparatuses and ideological class struggle; and finally, how Althusser drew on Mao in the formation of the concept …