Religion as ideology Flashcards
What is the basic definition of ideology?
a set of ideas and values - a belief system.
What is the more negative definition of ideology?
- distorted, false or mistaken ideas about the world.
- ideas that conceal the interests of a particular group / legitimate their privileges.
What groups talk about ideology?
Marxism and Feminism
What 2 classes do Marxists talk about?
Minority capitalist ruling class (Bourgeoisie)
Majority working class (Proletariat)
What is the relationship between the 2 classes?
Bourgeoisie own the means of production and the proletariat sell their labour to them.
What must the working class develop for the revolution to occur?
Class consciousness (become conscious of their true position as exploited ‘wage slaves’)
Why doesn’t the WC revolt?
The ruling class control not only the means of material production (factories, land etc.) they also control the means of production of ideas through institutions such as education, media, religion. These produce ruling-class-ideology = ideas that legitimate the status quo.This means there is false consciousness.
What ideas and beliefs does ruling class ideology include that prevents revolution?
- equality will never work because it goes against human nature
- victim blaming ideas about poverty, meritocracy means everyone can achieve if they work hard so the poor must be poor because they’re lazy not because of capitalism
- racist ideas about the inferiority of ethnic minorities divide black and white workers and make them easier to rule.
What does Gramsci call ruling class ideological domination?
Hegemony
What is dual consciousness?
Aware they are exploited but do nothing about it
How will revolution come about according to Gramsci?
This requires a political party of ‘organic intellectuals’ - workers have developed class consciousness and can spread it through the working class.
What is a criticism of Gramsci?
Abercrombie et al argues it is economic factors such as the fear of unemployment that keeps workers from rebelling.
What does Mannheim talk about?
He sees all belief systems as partial or one sided. He says there are 2 types of belief system or worldview.
What 2 types of belief system or worldview does Mannheim identify?
- Ideological thought
- Utopian thought
Explain ideological thought
Wants to keep things as they are. It reflects the interests of the capitalist class.
Explain utopian thought
Wants to change things. It reflects the interests of the working class. Marxism is an example of utopian thought. Intellectuals attach themselves to one of these views which is why they can’t agree on anything. They are subjective.
The solution to this problem = the creation of a ‘free-floating intelligentsia’ who detach themselves from their particular group and can therefore be objective. They would then be able to sort out the world’s probems.
What does Althusser say?
The repressive state apparatus is barely used because the ISA is more effective. The family, education and religion are all part of the ISA and these all create false class consciousness which prevents revolution.
How do feminists see ideology?
Ideology is ideas that men use to control women (patriarchal)
Give some examples of ideology feminists would use
Pauline Marks says ideas from science have been used to justify excluding women from education. E.g. male doctors and scientists etc said education females would disqualify women from their true nature of nurturing the next generation.
Give some examples of patriarchal ideologies in religion
- women are ritually impure or unclean because of childbirth and menstruation
- in some Christian churches a woman may not receive communion until after she has been churched (purification ritual)
However how can the feminist view be criticised?
Not all elements of religious belief systems subordinate women. E.g. before the emergence of monotheistic patriarchal religions there were lots of widespread matriarchal religions with female priests and female goddesses.
- Liberal Feminists
