Interpellation: This term was coined by Louis Althusser and it derives from the French verb appeller, which means ‘to name’. Interpellation is a process by which individuals internalize cultural values or ideologies. For Althusser, ideology calls on us to accept unquestioningly certain elements of our culture as fixed, natural and disinterested because we are free, autonomous and choosing subjects. A subject can be interpellated by institutions such as the police, the school, the family, the church and the army. There are different reactions to interpellation: response, negotiation and resistance through silence, action or passive resistance.
