iii.

Ideology: Meaning, Types and Changing Nature

Friday, August 12, 2022 6:35 PM

IDEOLOGY
Ideology is a set of ideas that seeks to explain some or all aspects of reality,
lays down values and preferences in respect of both ends and means, and
includes a programme of action for the attainment of the defined ends.
Ideology is one of the most contested of political terms. It is now used
most widely in a social-scientific sense to refer to a more or less coherent
set of ideas that provide the basis for some kind of organized political
action. In this sense all ideologies therefore, first, offer an account or
critique of the existing order, usually in the form of a ‘world view’; second,
provide the model of a desired future, a vision of the ‘good society’; and,
third, outline how political change can and should be brought about (see
Figure 5). Ideologies thus straddle the conventional boundaries between
descriptive and normative thought, and between theory and practice.
However, the term was coined by Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836) to
describe a new ‘science of ideas’, literally an ‘idea-ology’. Karl Marx
(1818–83) used ideology to refer to ideas that serve the interests of the
ruling class by concealing the contradictions of class society, thereby
promoting false consciousness and political passivity among subordinate
classes. In this view, a clear distinction can be drawn between ideology
and science, representing falsehood and truth, respectively. Later Marxists
adopted a neutral concept of ideology, regarding it as the distinctive ideas
of any social class, including the working class. Some liberals, particularly
during the Cold War period, have viewed ideology as an officially
sanctioned belief system that claims a monopoly of truth, often through a
spurious claim to be scientific. Conservative thinkers have sometimes
followed Michael Oakeshott (1901–90) in treating ideologies as elaborate
systems of thought that orientate politics towards abstract principles and
goals and away from practical and historical circumstances.

Types of political ideologies

below is a list of the different types of political ideologies:

Classical Ideologies Other Ideologies

Liberalism Ecologism
Conservatism Multiculturalism
Socialism Feminism
Anarchism Fundamentalism
Nationalism

In political science, it is widely accepted that the three main political

ideologies are conservatism, liberalism, and socialism. We also refer to
these ideologies as classical ideologies.
Classical ideologies are the ideologies developed prior to or in the midst of
the industrial revolution. These are some of the earliest political
ideologies.

Conservatism
Conservatism is characterised by its reluctance to or suspicion of change.
Conservatives call to maintain tradition, underpinned by a belief in human
imperfection and attempts to uphold what they view as the organic
structure of society.

Liberalism
As a political ideology, liberalism rejects what is viewed as traditional
social ideas and emphasises the importance of personal freedom, and the
power of individual and collective rationality. This emphasis on individual
freedom and rationality has contributed to its sustained embrace as an
ideology.
The core ideas of liberalism are liberty, individualism, rationalism, the
liberal state, and social justice.

Socialism
Socialism aims to establish a human alternative to capitalism and believes
in the concepts of collectivism and social equality as the foundation for a
better society. Socialist ideologies also seek to abolish class divisions.

Other different political ideologies

Anarchism
Anarchism is a political ideology that places the rejection of the state at its
epicentre. Anarchism rejects all forms of coercive authority and hierarchy
in favour of the organisation of society based on cooperation and
voluntary participation. While most ideologies are concerned with how to
manage authority and rule in society, anarchism is unique in that it rejects
the presence of both authority and rule.
The core ideas of anarchism are liberty, economic freedom, anti-
statism, and anti-clericalism.

Nationalism
Nationalism is an ideology based on the concept that a person’s loyalty
and devotion to the nation-state are more important than any individual
or group interest. For nationalists, the nation is of utmost importance.
Nationalism originated in the late eighteenth century during the French
Revolution. Hereditary monarchy and loyalty to a ruler were rejected, and
people went from being subjects of the crown to citizens of a nation.
The core ideas of nationalism are nations, self-determination, nation-
states, culturalism, racialism, and internationalism.

Ecologism
Ecologism studies the relationship between living organisms and their
environments as the first law of ecology states that everything is related to
each other. Ecology was once solely considered a branch of biology but
since the mid-twentieth century, it is also considered a political ideology.

Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the process in which distinct identities and cultural
groups are acknowledged, maintained, and supported in society.
Multiculturalism seeks to tackle challenges that arise out of cultural
diversity and minority marginalisation.
The core ideas of multiculturalism are recognition, identity, diversity,
and minority/minority rights.

Feminism
Feminism is a political term that emerged in the 1900s. It is an ideology
that fundamentally seeks to establish the social, economic, and political
equality of the sexes. This drive to seek equality is not limited to those
spheres, as feminism observes that women are disadvantaged by their sex
in all spheres of life. Feminism seeks to combat all forms of sex-based
inequality.
The core ideas of feminism are sex and gender, body autonomy,
equality feminism, the patriarchy, difference feminism, and
intersectionality.