Ideology

• An ideology is a worldview or set of beliefs and values.
• In sociology it is often defined as:
  • Distorted, false or biased ideas about the world.
  • Ideas that conceal interests of a group or justify their privilege.
  • Ideas that prevent change by misleading people.
  • A self-sustaining belief system closed to criticism.

• See class a divided into two opposed classes.
• The capitalist class exploit the workers' labour for profit.
• It is in the interest of the working class to overthrow capitalism with a socialist revolution.
• Would be replaced by a classless communist society.
• For this to occur workers need to develop a class consciousness.
• However capitalists control production of ideas through education, religion and mass media.
  • Produces a ruling-class ideology that legitimates the status quo.
    • equality is against human nature.
    • theory of meritocracy blames victims for being poor.
    • racist ideas divide black and white workers making them easier to control.
    • nationalist ideas.
• Ruling-class ideology prevents change by creating a false consciousness among workers.

GRAMSCI:

• Refers to ruling-class ideological domination of society as hegemony.
• Argues that workers have a dual consciousness.
  • A mixture of ruling-class ideology and ideas developed through their experience.
• Therefore it is possible to overthrow capitalism.
• Requires a political party of organic intellectuals.
  • Workers who developed class consciousness and can spread the message.

ABERCROMBIE ET AL:

• It is not a dominant ideology that keeps workers from rebelling, but a fear of unemployment.

MANNHEIM:

• Sees all belief systems as partial or one-sided worldviews.
• Distinguishes between 2 types of belief system:
  • Ideological Thought
    • justifies keeping things as they are.
    • reflects interests of privileged groups.
    • conservative and favours hierarchy.
  • Utopian Thought
    • justifies social change.
    • reflects position of underprivileged.
    • offers vision of how society could/should be.
• These systems only represent the interest of certain groups.
• Only gives partial truth about the world so becomes a source of conflict.
• Solution: detach intellectuals from social groups and create a free-floating intelligentsia to join elements of partial ideologies/utopias to create a total world view.
• However political ideologies often diametrically oppose each other.

• Feminists see gender inequality as the fundamental division in society.
• See patriarchal ideology as playing a key role in legitimating it.
• Marks - describes how scientific ideas have been used to exclude women from education.
• Patriarchal ideologies in religious belief establish women as inferior.
  • women are often regarded as ritually impure because of childbirth/menstruation.
• Not all elements of religious belief subordinate women.
  • matriarchal religions were widespread before the emergence of major monotheistic religions.
  • Hinduism - goddesses are portrayed as mothers/creators of the universe.