Teacher Trade Unionism as a Political Ideological State Apparatus within the South African Education System: A Structural Marxist Perspective

Abstract

This article presents a discussion of the politics of teacher trade unionism as an Ideological State Apparatus operating within a Repressive State Apparatus using the structural Marxist perspective. Using Althusser's work, I critique the politics and processes of the redeployment process within the South African education system. Redeployment is a process that was introduced in South Africa to prevent the retrenchment of teachers in under populated schools when learners moved from low-performing to high-performing schools after the birth of one new democratic education system in 1994. I argue that the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) fits the profile of a political Ideological State Apparatus and has been immensely influential in fortifying the emergence of the current ruling class hegemony within the Department of Education. While the function and structure of ideology are unchanging and existing throughout history, my postulation is that SADTU still strives to make a significant impact to the ideological role of the State as it ‘normalises’ an immensely hierarchical society. Nevertheless the fact Althusser's theories were born out of an effort to preserve what some viewed as Communist convention; I find Althusser's work critical and relevant in critiquing the redeployment and rightsizing process within the South African education system.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n9p470