On Her Majesty's Ideological State Apparatus: Indirect Rule and Empire

The British colonial policy of indirect rule was a crucial tool for the maintenance of empire. While indirect rule has typically been regarded as little more than an expedient solution to resource constraints, it can more accurately be understood as a type of ideological state apparatus, first described by Louis Althusser in his 1969 essay. Through an analysis of indirect rule in South Africa, support is provided for Althusser's theses on ideology, as well as for the general theory of historical materialism.