Ideology

Question 1

What is the basic definition of ideology?

Answer 1

A worldview or a set of ideas and values

Question 2

Marxism and ideology

Answer 2

Ruling class ideology includes these beliefs:

• Equality will never work as it goes against ‘human nature’
• Victim blaming ideas about poverty: ‘the poor are dumb theory’ by Bowles and Gintis- everyone has an equal chance so the poor must be poor due to stupidity and laziness
• Racist ideas make ethnic minorities easier to control

Question 3

Hegemony and revolution

Answer 3

• Gramsci

- The working class can develop ideas that challenge ruling-class hegemony because they have a dual consciousness

Question 4

What is a dual consciousness (Gramsci)?

Answer 4

A mixture of ruling-class ideology and ideas they develop from their own direct experience of exploitation and their struggles against it

Question 5

Criticisms of Gramsci’s theory?

Answer 5

Abercrombie et al (2015): economic factors such as the fear of unemployment keeps workers from rebelling

Question 6

The ideology of nationalism

Answer 6

• Nationalism is an important political ideology, its claims are:
• Nations are real, distinctive communities which have their own characteristics and shared history
• Every nation should be self-governing
• National loyalty and identity should come before all others
• Anderson (2006) a nation isn’t a real one, but rather an ‘imagined one’

Question 7

Marxism: nationalism as false consciousness

Answer 7

• Nationalism is a form of false-class consciousness that helps to prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the international working class
• This is because nationalism encourages workers to believe they have more in common with the capitalists of their own country than with workers of other countries

Question 8

Functionalism: nationalism as civil religion

Answer 8

• Nationalism functions as a civil religion that unites everyone into a single national community, regardless of class or ethnic differences

Question 9

Gellner: nationalism and modernity

Answer 9

• Also sees nationalism as false consciousness
• Nationalism is a very modern phenomenon, as pre-industrial societies were held together by a fixed hierarchy of ascribed statuses, not nationalism
• Nationalism regards all citizens as equal and this makes economic and social cooperation easier

Question 10

Mannheim: ideology and utopia

Answer 10

• All belief systems have a partially or one-sided worldview
• 2 broad types of belief system/worldview:
  1. Ideological thought- justifies keeping things as they are
  2. Utopian thought- justifies social change, reflects the position and interests of the underprivileged.

Question 11

Free-floating intelligentsia

Answer 11

• The solution is to ‘detach’ the intellectuals from the social groups they represent and create a free-floating intelligentsia
• They would be able to synthesise elements of the different partial ideologies and utopias so as to arrive at a ‘total’ worldview that represented the interests of the whole society

Question 12

Feminism and ideology:

Answer 12

• Gender inequality is the fundamental division in society and patriarchal ideology as playing a key role in legitimating it
• Marks (1979): ideas from science have been used to justify excluding women from education.
• 19th century view of male scientists: educating females would create a new race of puny and unfeminine females
• Hasn’t always been like this: matriarchal religions with female deities were widespread before monotheistic patriarchal religion
• Hinduism: goddesses are often portrayed as the creators of the universe