Political Ideologies (Part 2)

Anarchism
-Anarchy/without rule.

● Anarchism is the belief that political authority in all forms and especially in the
form the state is both evil and unnecessary.

● Anarchists preference for a stateless society in which free individuals manage their own
affairs through voluntary agreement and cooperation has been developed on the basis of
two rival traditions:
-liberal individualism ( demands that the state have a stance of strict
neutrality concerning any particular conception of the good.)
-socialist communitarianism(The philosophy of communitarianism originated
in the 20th century, but the term "communitarian" was coined in 1841, by
John Goodwyn Barmby, a leader of the British Chartist movement, who
used it in referring to utopian socialists and other idealists who
experimented with communal styles of life.)

● Individualists argue society should be regulated along the lines of anarcho-capitalism

which is an extreme version of free-market economics in which there is an absence of
state authority

● Socialist/Marxist/Communist anarchists advocate for a form of anarcho- communism

with common ownership, decentralization, and workers’ self-management.

Fascism

● Emerged in the 19th century and is regarded as an interwar phenomenon as it was shaped
by WW1 and the aftermath.(Fascism is a child of the 20th Century.)
● It was a reaction against western ideas especially liberalism; hence, values such as
freedom, progress, equality, rationalism etc. were overturned in the name of struggle,
leadership, power, heroism, and war.
● It had an “anti-character” defined largely by what it opposes: anti-liberalism, anti-
individualism, anti-communism etc.
 Green Ideologies

● Referred to as ecologism has its roots in the environmental movement and the revolt
against industrialization in the 19th century.
● It reflects concern about the damage done to the world by the increasing pace of
economic development exacerbated by the advent of nuclear technology, acid
rain, ozone depletion, global warming etc.
● It highlights the importance of ecology (relations of organisms to one another)
and therefore develops an ecocentric world view that portrays human species as
part of nature.
● This portrays the planet Earth as a living organism that is primarily concerned
with its own survival. Others have expressed sympathy for such radical holism by
drawing on the ideas of Eastern religions that emphasize the oneness of life, such
as Taoism and ZenBuddhism (Capra, 1983). ‘Shallow’ or humanist ecologists,
such as those in some environmental pressure groups, believe that an appeal to
selfinterest and common sense will persuade humankind to adopt ecologically
sound policies and lifestyles, usually in line with the principle of sustainable
development

-Ecology: The central principle of all forms of green ideology is ecology.

Ecology conflicts dramatically with the notion of humankind as ‘the
master of nature’, and instead suggests that a delicate network of
interrelationships that had hitherto been ignored sustains each human
community, indeed the entire human species.

-Shallow and deep ecology: The most important distinction in

green ideology is between what are termed ‘shallow’ ecology
and ‘deep’ ecology. Shallow ecology is a green ideological
perspective that harnesses the lessons of ecology to human
needs and ends, and is associated with values such as
sustainability and conservation. Deep ecology, in contrast,
rejects anthropocentrism, or human-centredness, and gives
priority to the maintenance of nature; it is associated with
values such as biocentric equality, diversity and decentralization.
-Holism: Green thinkers have been attracted to the idea of
holism as an alternative to the reductionist or mechanistic
scientific theories that have sustained the delusion that the
natural world is merely a resource available to satisfy human
needs. Holism is the belief that the whole is more important
than its parts.

-Sustainability: Green thinkers who subscribe to shallow

ecological perspectives typically argue that humankind will
only survive and prosper if it recognizes that it is merely one
element of a complex biosphere, and that only a healthy,
balanced biosphere will sustain human life. Policies and
actions must therefore be judged by the principle of
‘sustainability’, the capacity of a system to maintain its health
and continue in existence over time. Sustainability sets clear
limits on human ambitions and material dreams because it
requires that production does as little damage as possible to
the fragile global ecosystem.

-Rejection of conventional ethics: Green ideology is concerned with

extending moral thinking in a number of
directions. This is because conventional ethical systems are
clearly anthropocentric, orientated around the pleasure, needs
and interests of human beings. In such philosophies, the nonhuman world
is invested with value only to the extent that it
satisfies human needs. In sharp contrast, deep ecologists, in
particular, suggest that nature has value in its own right; that
is, intrinsic value.
 -Postmaterialism: Green thinkers have advanced a critique of
materialism and consumerism that emphasizes their negative
implications for both resource depletion and personal wellbeing. As a
priority, humankind must therefore liberate itself
from a ‘having’ attitude of mind. With this in mind, green
thinkers have often advocated a shift in emphasis from
‘having’ to ‘being’.

COSMOPOLITANISM

-Was first treated as an ideology in the 1990s.

-Cosmopolitanism as an ideology emerged as a result of the moral, political, and cultural

implications of growing global interconnectedness.

-It is thus the ideological expression of globalization

-Cosmopolitanism is a belief in a “cosmopolis” or “world state.”

-The “world state” or “cosmopolis” referred to as political cosmopolitanism is attacked on

the basis that the idea of a world government is not only rejected but unfashionable.

-Modern cosmopolitanism is deemed more realistic in that it has a more moral or cultural
character.

-Moral/cultural cosmopolitanism is the belief that the world constitutes a single moral
community. This means that people have obligations towards all other people in the
world regardless of nationality, religion, ethnicity, etc.

-Such ethical thinking is based on the core idea that the individual, rather than any political
community, is the principal focus of moral concern. This is asserted in the doctrine of
human rights.
Liberal cosmopolitanism has been expressed in two ways. The first is the
attempt to universalize civic and political rights, especially classic ‘liberal’
rights such as the right to life, liberty and property, freedom of expression,
and freedom from arbitrary arrest. The second form of liberal
cosmopolitanism derives from economic liberalism, and places particular stress on attempts
to universalize market society, seen as a means of
widening individual freedom and promoting material advancement. In
marked contrast, socialist cosmopolitanism is rooted in the Marxist belief
that proletarian class solidarity has a transnational character

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM

-This has been a growing political force since the 1990s with its most politically significant
being Islamic fundamentalism or Islamism.

-Often associated “Islamic Revolution” in 1979 in Iran, Islamic fundamentalism has been
evident throughout the Middle East and parts of North Africa and Asia

-Christian forms of fundamentalism in the (USA), Sikh and Hindu (India) Buddhist (Sri
Lanka and Myanmar) have also emerged.

-Fundamentalism arises in deeply troubled societies with crises of identity as a result of the
spread of secularism (separation of church and state), the apparent weakening of society’s
moral fabric, and the search in post-colonial societies for a non-western or anti-western
political identity

-The core ideas of religious fundamentalism is that religion cannot and should not be
confined to the private sphere; instead it finds its highest and proper expression in the
politics of mobilization and social regeneration. Politics is religion (Ayatollah Khomeini)

-Religious values and beliefs constitute the organizing principles of public existence
including law, social conduct, the economy, as well as politics
-Religion is therefore a complete way of life.

Secularism: The belief that religion should not intrude into secular
(worldly) affairs, usually reflected in the desire to separate the state
from institutionalized religion.