IDEOLOGIES – an

introduction
OUTLINE OF UNIT

What is ideology?

Core themes of different ideologies

The political spectrum

WHAT IS ‘IDEOLOGY’?
ISM’s!

We are basically going to be

looking at many of the words
ending in
–ism, such as liberalism,
conservatis m, socialism,
communi sm, religious
fundamentalism, femi nism,
totalitarianism etc.
What is ideology?

•First thing to be clear on is that there

really is no clear and agreed upon
definition of ideology. It is a difficult
term to really define properly.
SOME ATTEMPTED DEFINITIONS
OF ‘IDEOLOGY’ 1

•A political belief system

• An action-orientated set of political ideas
• The ideas of the ruling class
•The world view of a particular social class
or social group
•Political ideas that embody or articulate
class or social interests
•Ideas that propagate false consciousness
amongst the exploited or oppressed
 SOME ATTEMPTED DEFINITIONS
OF ‘IDEOLOGY’ 2

•Ideas that situate the individual within a social

context and generate a sense of collective belonging
•An officially sanctioned set of ideas used to
legitimise a political system or regime
•An all-embracing political doctrine that claims a
monopoly of truth
•An abstract and highly systematic set of political
ideas
 ORIGIN OF THE TERM

•The term was created during

the French Revolution by
Antoine Destutt de Tracy (1754-
1836), and first used in public
in 1796
• For de Tracy, idéologie
referred to a new „science of
ideas‟, or an idea-ology, like in
biology, or psychology.
TAKE NOTE!

It‟s important to realise that ideology

is not just something that is
important to politics or politicians.
Ideology influences all of our lives,
but it works in such a way that we
are often unaware of its influence!
CORE THEMES

LIBERALISM
This ideology is in a sense the ideology of
the ‘industrialised West’
It has a focus on a particular set of values: the
individual,
freedom, reason, justice, toleration
 LIBERALISM: THE INDIVIDUAL

• Liberalism emphasises the importance of the

individual, both the uniqueness of each individual and
at the same time the equality of all individuals.
 LIBERALISM: THE INDIVIDUAL

• Thus, liberalism emphasises a commitment to individual freedom.

This does not mean though, that an individual is free to do
whatever they like. There are still constraints on what you are
actually allowed to do, one constraint being that you are not
allowed to hurt another individual.
LIBERALISM: JUSTICE AND
TOLERANCE

•Liberals look at justice in that each person

should be given what they are
„due‟.
•Because individual rights are central, this means
that liberalism believes in tolerance and pluralism,
or the idea that different moral, cultural and
political cultures can exist together.
 WHERE CAN I SEE EVIDENCE OF
LIBERALISM TODAY?

• Everywhere! Have a look around, and you will see that

the ideas of liberalism are central to our lives. What
examples of liberalism can you find just by looking at your
school?
CORE THEMES

CONSERVATISM
CONSERVATISM: CORE THEMES

Central beliefs of conservatism

are based around the ideas of:
• tradition
• human imperfection
• organic society
• hierarchy and authority
• property
 CONSERVATISM:
HUMANS ARE
IMPERFECT

Conservatives argue that human beings

are imperfect and not perfectible, thus
they will need stability and security in
their lives, which the government can
provide
CONSERVATISM: ORGANIC
SOCIETY

Conservatives believe that human

beings cannot exist outside of society,
or the social groups that nurture
him/her, such as family, friends,
colleagues, local community, and the
nation
 CONSERVATISM:
HIERARCHY AND
AUTHORITY

Believe that society

is hierarchical, and
that authority (who
is on top or in
charge) develops
naturally
CORE THEMES

SOCIALISM
Core Themes

• Community
• Cooperation
• Equality
• Class politics
• Common ownership
COMMUNITY

•Human beings are tied to one

another by the bonds of a common
humanity
• „We are all brothers and sisters‟
Cooperation not competition

Socialists believe that the natural relationship

among humans is one of cooperation rather
than competition
Socialists are committed to equality
SOCIAL CLASS

Emphasis is on social class as the determining

factor of society

What do you notice about the boys in this picture?

COMMON OWNERSHIP

•Disagree with the idea of private

property, as they see this as one of the
causes of competition and therefore
social inequality.
•Thus, have a view that all property
should be communal
•„From each according to his ability, to
each according to his need‟ – Karl Marx
CORE THEMES

FASCISM
ORIGIN

Whilst liberalism, conservatism and socialism are ideas

that have their roots in the 19th Century, fascism was
born in the period between the first world wars, and
emerged most dramatically in Italy and Germany.
Italian Fascism

Benito Mussolini and his

Fascist Party came to
power in Italy in the
1920s and lasted until the
second World War, upon
which he was executed by
the Italian partisans and
hung by his feet in a
square in Milano
GERMAN
FASCISM

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi

Party came to power in
the 1930s and lasted until
the Second World
War, until the defeat of
Germany by the Allies.
Features of fascism

It is a difficult ideology to define, but some of its

common themes include:
•A reaction against rationalism, or the use of
reason to make sense of the world
• A belief that life is struggle, and that the
strongest survive (influenced by Darwin‟s idea of
natural selection)
•Does not believe in equality; instead believes
in elitism, or that some people are born leaders
•An extreme embrace of nationalism;
incorporating a belief that certain nations are
superior to others.
CORE THEMES

CAPITALISM
CAPITALISM

•Is an economic
system that is
focussed on
profit, and the major
part of production is
privately owned
•Goods and services
are created in order
to generate profit
The ‘Market’

The market is seen to be the defining mechanism in

ordering society. In this sense, „the market‟ refers to
the procedure of selling and buying goods in general
(and anywhere), not necessarily a physical market like
Preston Market! The market procedure is a way where
people bring their goods to sell to consumers, and it is
thought that through trade society‟s order is
maintained.
In economics talk, „supply‟ and „demand‟ are terms
used to describe this process.
ECONOMIC GROWTH

Belief in the idea of economic growth, so that all people increase their
material wealth (best seen in the pie example below) and become better
off, no matter their position in the economy. If all people are concerned
with increasing their wealth, this will maintain order in society
CORE THEMES

TOTALITARIANISM
 TOTALITARIANISM

•Is a political system where the state (in the hands of

perhaps one person or a small group/party) controls almost
everything in its territory. All freedom is removed, and all
subjects are under control of the authority. It is a ‘total
system’ of control.
•It establishes its rule by ideological manipulation
(controlling the minds of its subjects), terror and brutality.
CORE THEMES

ANARCHISM
 ANARCHISM

•The defining feature of anarchism is its opposition to the

state and the institutions of government and law
•Their main argument against authority is that they see
authority as being an offence against the principles of
freedom and equality
•They believe in a natural goodness of humans, and that
without a state governing humans would naturally fall into a
state of cooperation with one another.
CORE THEMES

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
 RELIGIOUS
FUNDAMENTALISM

Rejects the distinction

between politics and religion;
for fundamentalists, „politics is
religion‟ (Khomeini, leader of
the Islamic Revolution of Iran
in 1979)
SOME FUNNY STEREOTYPES
CORE THEMES

NATIONALISM
 NATIONALISM

A firm belief in the idea that the „nation‟ should

be the central principle of political organisation
ENVIRONMENTALISM
A belief that nature is the most important
focus of social organisation
FEMINISM
 FEMINISM

Important ideology that

changed the focus of
ideology from looking at
the public to the private
sphere. That
is, rather than looking at
the politics of the state
level, they started to look
at the politics of the
individual. Key to this was
looking at the power
relationship that exists
between men and women.
Feminism

•Use of the concept of „patriarchy‟ to

describe the power relationship between
men and women
• Made a distinction between the idea of
„sex‟ and „gender‟: sex is a biological term
defined by birth, whereas gender is a
cultural term which incorporates learning
how to be female or male
GLOBALIZATION
 GLOBALIZATION

• This term describes the process through

which
economies, societies and cultures become
further integrated through a global
network of political ideas through
communication, transportation and trade.
•Whether the term is an ideology or not is
debatable, but it is an idea that more and
more comes to influence the way we see the
world.
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CHART.
IDEOLOGIES DEFINITION EXAMPLES
LIBERALISM

CONSERVATISM

SOCIALISM

FASCISM

ANARCHISM

FEMINISM

GREEN
POLITICS/ENVIRONMENTALISM

COSMOPOLITISM/GLOBALIZATION

TOTALITARIANISM
• IF YOU WILL BE 18 BY YEAR 2022 AND WILL
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PRESIDENCY OF?

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