Beliefs In Society - Ideology Flashcards
What is ideology?
A set of ideas, values & beliefs that provide a means of interpreting the world and promotes the interests of social groups
What is pluralist ideology?
A view that sees the excerise of power in society as relflecting broad range of social interests -> power spread among wide variety of competing groups (no one has monopoly of power)
Each group has own set of ideas & means of interpreting the world -> everyone able to live alongside each other without dominating/claiming superiority over other groups
EVALUATION: What are the issues with pluralist ideology?
Doesn’t recognise there’s an unequal power distribution in society & not all social groups can influence those with power/get their views accepted (helps to conceal it)
Who suggested that dominant ideology is spread through the ISA?
Althusser
Who came up with hegemony?
Gramsci
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Gramsci say about the dominant ideology?
Cultural institutions e.g. religion justified the ruling class position by passing dom ideology (persuades wealth & privilege is a sign of approval & reward from from God -> the w class possesses dual consciousness
What is dual consciousness?
Mixture of ruling class ideology & ideas they develop from own direct experience of exploitation & struggle against it
What is patriarchal ideology?
Set of ideas which supports & justifies power & dominance of men in society
How can religion be seen as passing patriarchal ideology?
Men tend to dominate hierarchal positions in church -> pass on view that women are better suited to expressive role
Numerous examples from religions of ideas that women are ritually impure (particularly bc of childbirth/menstruation) -> given range of purification rituals
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Pauline Marks say about patriarchal ideology?
Ideas from science have been used to exclude women from education -> C19: male doctors, scientists etc. expressed view that educating women produces new race of ‘unfeminine’ women which disqualifies women from their ‘true’ vocation of nurturing the new gen
What 3 main aspects of religion make it differ from ideology?
Belief in the supernatural
Faith on the part of the believers
Body of unchanging truth
EVALUATION: What does Marx say about religion representing the interests of a particular social group?
Religion used by ruling classes to justify their position & act as drug ‘dulling the pain of oppression’
AO2: What is the ideology perpetuated by fundamentalist Christians?
Intelligent design -> believes all livings things are created by God and not Darwins theory of evolution
Aligned to conservative right wing politicians (seek intelligent design to be taught in schools)
AO2: What is the Butler Act and how does it link to ideology?
1925 law (Tennessee) prohibiting public school teachers from teaching evolution and denying book of genesis’ account of creation
What are the postmodern approaches to ideology?
The world cannot be explained through metanarritives (Lyotard) -> ideology is a metanarritive
Suggest metanarritives are one ‘story’ among others that are equally valid -> all ideologies expressing the different beliefs of diversity of social groups
