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IdeologyAn ideology is a collection of ideas. The word ''ideology'' was coined by Count Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to define a "science of ideas." An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltanschauung), as in common sense (see Ideology#Ideology in everyday society) and several philosophical tendencies (see Ideology#Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society (the Marxist definition of ''ideology'' - see Ideology#Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction). == Ideology in everyday society == Every society has an ideology that forms the basis of the "public opinion" or common sense, a basis that usually remains invisible to most people within the society. This dominant ideology appears as "neutral", while all others that differ from the norm are often seen as radical, no matter what the actual vision may be. The philosopher Michel Foucault wrote about this concept of apparent ideological neutrality. Organisations that strive for power (sociology) influence the ideology of a society to become what they want it to be. Political organisations (governments included) and other groups (e.g. lobbyists) try to influence people by broadcasting their opinions, which is the reason why so often many people in a society seem to "think alike". When most people in a society think alike about certain matters, or even forget that there are alternatives to the current state of affairs, we arrive at the concept of Hegemony, about which the philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote. The much smaller scale concept of groupthink also owes something to his work. Modern linguists study the mechanism of conceptual metaphor, by which this 'thinking alike' is thought to be transmitted. There are many different kinds of ideology: political, social, epistemology, ethics, and so on. Meta-ideology is the study of the structure, form, and manifestation of ideologies. Meta-ideology posits that ideology is a system of ideas and thoughts bound by an internal logic and a few basic assumptions about reality that have no real factual basis, but are arbitrary choices that serve as the seed around which ideologies grow. According to this train of thought, ideologies are neither right nor wrong, but only a relativistic intellectual strategy for categorizing the world. == Political ideologies == In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethics, set of ideal (ethics), principles, doctrine, myth or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, or large group that explain how society should work, and offer some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power (sociology) and to what ends it should be used. It can be a construct of political thought, often defining political party and their policy. The popularity of an ideology is in part due to the influence of ''moral entrepreneurs'', who sometimes act in their own interests. Ideology studied as ideology (rather than examples of specific ideologies) has been carried out under the name systematic ideology. Political ideologies have two dimensions: #How society should work (or be arranged). #The rules (blueprint) most appropriate to achieving the ideal arrangement. === The Ideal Moral Order === Achieving or preserving the ideal social arrangement is the goal of politics: the less anarchistic the ideology, the more arranging that needs to be done. ====Egalitarianism==== Some ideologies (e.g. socialism, liberalism) have the notion of a flat social order. These have very few levels in their social hierarchy. For instance, they may believe that: #All ethnicities are equal (e.g. anti-racism) #Men equal women (e.g. Equity feminism) #All cultures are equally valuable (e.g. multiculturalism) #All countries are equally important (cf. globalism) #All religions are equivalent (e.g. religious pluralism) #All alternative lifestyles are acceptable, etc. A flat social order is thought to foster diversity of thought and behavior across society. It encourages each individual to accomplish his or her personal desires by not conforming to any pre-defined standard. People on this side of the conformist/non-conformist divide may support: #Separation of church and state #gay rights and minority rights #Drug legalization #Freedom of expression, etc. ====Establishmentarianism==== Other ideologies (e.g. authoritarianism, conservatism) have the notion of a structured social order. These tend to have very many levels in their social hierarchy. For instance, they may believe that: #God ranks above people (cf. theism) #Men rank above women (e.g. sexism) #Some cultures rank above others (cf. The White Man's Burden) #Some countries rank above others (e.g. nationalism) #Some lifestyles rank above others #Some social classes rank above others, etc. A structured social order is thought to bring uniformity of thought and behavior across society. It encourages each individual to respect the established social order. People on this side of the conformist/non-conformist divide may support: #Integration of church and state #Family values #Military programs #Abortion-Control, etc. === The Rules to the Game === Implementing the cultural blueprint is the object of politics. More utopian ideologies assume we are farther away from where we want to be; less utopian ideologies assume we are closer to where we want to be. The rules of the game are what we use to justify the means to get there. ==== Individualism ==== Some ideologies (e.g. liberalism, conservatism) have the notion of rewarding individual initiatives over collective initiatives. Ideologies on this side of the independence/interdependence divide tend to reward actions that: #Help members achieve self-sufficiency (economic, emotional, etc.) from the rest of society. #Result from each member's individual effort. #Help members acquire self-discipline as a condition to achieving self-sufficiency. Rewarding individual initiatives first tends to create a society with a high level of economic independence among the various members of society (for instance through accumulation of wealth). Ideologies on this side of the independence/interdependence divide may support: #Economic freedom #Lower taxes #Gun ownership #Crime repression, etc. ==== Collectivism==== Other ideologies (e.g. socialism, authoritarianism, communitarianism) have the notion of rewarding collective initiatives over individual initiatives. Ideologies on this side of the independence/interdependence divide tend to reward actions that: #Increase the strengths of social ties (economic, emotional, etc.). #Empathise with less fortunate members of society. #Help members achieve happiness as a condition of empathy towards others. Rewarding collective initiatives first tends to create a society with a high level of economic interdependence among the various members of society (for instance through redistribution of wealth). Ideologies on this side of the independence/interdependence divide may support: #Strong government #Social programs #Gun control #Crime prevention, etc. === Socialistic Political Ideologies === Other examples include: christian democracy, Social Democrats, and communism. (The communist theories of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and their followers, often known as marxism, are regarded as one of the most influential and well-defined political ideologies of the 20th century. However, Marx and Engels himself repeatedly denounced ideology in general, describing it in terms such as "false consciousness", by which they meant that it was a belief that did not reflect historical materialist circumstances.) === Populist Political Ideologies === Populism can be found in a variety if ideolgical forms. Examples include: Communitarianism, consumerism, fascism, monarchism, nationalism, and nazism. === Liberalistic Political Ideologies === Other examples include: anarchism and libertarianism. === Conservative Political Ideologies === ''See also "Capitalism#Capitalism_as_an_ideology", a section of the article on capitalism.'' Other examples include: capitalism and neoliberalism. == Epistemological ideologies == Even when the challenging of existing beliefs is encouraged, as in science, the dominant paradigm or mindset can prevent certain challenges, theories or experiments from being advanced. The philosophy of science mostly concerns itself with reducing the impact of these prior ideologies so that science can proceed with its primary task, which is (according to science) to create knowledge. There are critics who view science as an ideology in itself, called scientism. Some scientists respond that, while the scientific method is itself an ideology, as it is a collection of ideas, there is nothing particularly wrong or bad about it. Other critics point out that while science itself is not a misleading ideology, there are some fields of study within science that are misleading. Two examples discussed here are in the fields of ecology and economics. A special case of science adopted as ideology is that of ecology, which studies the relationships between living things on Earth. Perceptual psychology J. J. Gibson believed that human perception of ecological relationships was the basis of self-awareness and cognition itself. Linguistics George Lakoff has proposed a cognitive science of mathematics wherein even the most fundamental ideas of arithmetic would be seen as consequences or products of human perception - which is itself necessarily evolved within an ecology. Deep ecology and the modern ecology movement (and, to a lesser degree, Green parties) appear to have adopted ecological sciences as a positive ideology. Some accuse ecological economics of likewise turning scientific theory into political economy, although theses in that science can often be tested. The modern practice of green economics fuses both approaches and seems to be part science, part ideology. This is far from the only theory of economics to be raised to ideology status - some notable economically-based ideologies include mercantilism, social darwinism, communism, laissez-faire, and "free trade". There are also current theories of safe trade and fair trade which can be seen as ideologies. == Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction == Karl Marx proposed a ''base/superstructure'' model of society. The ''base'' refers to the means of production of society. The ''superstructure'' is formed on top of the base, and comprises that society's ideology, as well as its legal system, political system, and religions. Marx proposed that the base determines the superstructure. It is the ruling class that controls the society's means of production - and thus the superstructure of society, including its ideology, will be determined according to what is in the ruling class' best interests. On the other hand, critics of the Marxist approach feel that it attributes too much importance to economic factors in influencing society. The ideologies of the dominant class of a society are proposed to all members of that society in order to make the ruling class' interests appear to be the interests of all, and thereby achieve hegemony. To reach this goal, ideology makes use of a special type of discourse: the lacunar discourse, as discussed by Althusser. A number of propositions, which are never untrue, suggest a number of other propositions, which are. In this way, the essence of the lacunar discourse is what is ''not'' told (but is suggested). For example, the statement 'All are equal before the law', which is a theory behind current legal systems, suggests that all people may be of equal worth or have equal 'opportunities'. This is not true, because the concept of private property over the means of production results in some people being able to own more (''much'' more) than others, and their property brings power and influence (the rich can afford better lawyers, among other things, and this puts in question the principle of equality before the law). The dominant forms of ideology in capitalism are (in chronological order): #classical liberalism #social democracy #neo-liberalism and they correspond to the stages of development of capitalism: #extensive stage #intensive stage #contemporary capitalism (or late capitalism, or current crisis) ==Bibliography== *[http:www.unizar.es/departamentos/filologia_inglesa/garciala/bibliography.html A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism and Philology] (by José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain. See: Ideology, Ideology and Literature, Ideology and Criticism, Ideology and Film, Ideology and Fiction, Ideology and Drama, Marxist criticism, Feminist criticism. ==References== *Louis Althusser, ''Reading Capital'' ('Pour lire le Capital') *Antonio Gramsci, ''Prison notebooks'' == See also == *Cold War *political economy *economics *-ism *memetics *Louis Althusser *cultural identity == External Links == [http://www.tamilnation.org/ideology/ The Strength of an Idea] Ethics Marxist theory Political theories Politics Social philosophy Political ideology entry points IdeologyHello Roan, I saw your contribution to ideology and wonderered whether it would be fair to add that while the word may have been neutral when used in the eighteenth century, it acquired pejorative connotations with the advent of marxism. -- User:Alan Peakall 13:23 Dec 6, 2002 (UTC) :yes, we can work something out. Be sure to note that it was not due to marxism that it acquired a pejorative connotation, but due to the rejection of marxism in the west, and also the rejection of the Nazi / fascist ideology. I have just added a link to the cold war... User:Roan ::I was referring more to the idea of ''critique of ideology'' in Marx's writings than to the conflict of specific ideologies. Try google on the string |ideology in marx|. Admittedly the current Wikipedia article on marxism is weak in this area too. -- User:Alan Peakall 12:14 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC) :::Well, go ahead and add it if you like. I've only just started to read Marx, so I'm not quite an expert about this yet. I'll try the google search, thanks. User:Roan 08:30 Dec 11, 2002 (UTC) ---- Anyone taking Christian democracy? [http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Christian_democracy] --User:Kaihsu 17:53, 18 Aug 2003 (UTC) ---- I really think we need to add something on Louis Althusser's notions of ideology and ideological state apparatuses and interpollation. I don't have the time or energy to do it right now, so I've added the wiki page about his work to the See Also section for now. --User:Voyager640 2:40, 3 Nov 2003 (PST) ---- Didnt really looked this pg before, but unwittingly I did something in the direction of Voyager's suggestion, adding the section 3: I~ as an instrument of soc repr'n (which has plenty of room for expanding). But there is a structural problem with the previous material: Section 2 and sub- 2.1 are really at the same level and should come under a same heading at Section level. Something like (this just an exampple): 2 Many kinds of (Philosophical?) ideologies 2.1 Epistemological I~ 2.2 Political I~ ... (any number of other I~) Can he or she who did that section (or anyone else akin in thought) find a name for that Section 2 ? User:Deák 18:38, 2004 Aug 4 (UTC) == Structure of entry == There is a structural problem with material of Section 2: Section 2 itself and sub- 2.1 are really at the same level and should come under a same heading at Section level. Something like (this just an exampple): 2 Many kinds of (Philosophical?) ideologies 2.1 Epistemological I~ 2.2 Political I~ ... (any number of other I~) Can he or she who did that section (or anyone else akin in thought; or anyone) find a name for that Section 2 ? -- User:Deák 22:19, 2004 Aug 10 (UTC) See other meanings of words starting from letter: IIA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Ideology: Ideology Ideology |
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