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Introduction
to Cultural Anthropology
SOC401
VU
Lesson
30
IDEOLOGY
AND CULTURE
Ideology
An
ideology is a collection of ideas. An
ideology can be thought of as a
comprehensive vision,
as a way of
looking
at things Ideology can also be
seen as a set of ideas proposed by the
dominant class of a society
to
all
members of this society.
For
example, different types of
gender ideologies would
describe what roles are
expected of women and
men
in a society. The ideology of
economic liberalization could be seen to
particularly promote the interests
of
the business classes.
Ideology
in Everyday Life
Every
society
has
an ideology that forms the basis of the
public opinion or common
sense,
a basis that
usually
remains invisible to most people
within the society. This dominant
ideology appears
as `neutral',
while
all others that differ
from the norm are often
seen as radical, no matter what the
actual circumstances
may
be.
Influencing
Ideology
Organizations
that strive for power
influence
the ideology of a society to provide a
favorable environment
for
them. Political organizations
(governments
included)
and other groups (e.g.
lobbyists) try to influence
people
by broadcasting their opinions,
which is the reason why so
often many people in a society
seem to
think
alike.
A
certain ethic
usually
forms the basis of an ideology. Ideology
studied as ideology (rather than
examples of
specific
ideologies) has been carried
out under the name systematic
ideology.
There are many different
kinds
of
ideology: political,
social,
epistemological,
ethical.
The
popularity of an ideology is in part
due to the influence of moral
entrepreneurs,
who sometimes act in
their
own interests. A political
ideology is the body of ideals,
principles, doctrine,
myth
or
symbols
of
a
social
movement,
institution,
class,
or large group that
references some political
and cultural plan. It can be
a
construct of political thought,
often defining political
parties and
their policy.
Hegemony
When
most people in a society think alike
about certain matters, or even
forget that there are
alternatives to
the
current state of affairs, we arrive at the
concept of Hegemony,
about which the philosopher Antonio
Gramsci
wrote.
The much smaller-scale
concept of groupthink
also
owes something to his
work.
The
ideologies of the dominant class of a
society are proposed to all
members of that society in
order to
make
the ruling class' interests
appear to be the interests of all, and
thereby achieve hegemony.
To reach this
goal,
ideology makes use of a
special type of discourse: the lacunar
discourse.
A
number of propositions, which are never
untrue, suggest a number of other propositions,
which are. In
this
way, the essence of the lacunar
discourse is what is not
told
(but is suggested).
Epistemological
ideologies
Even
when the challenging of existing beliefs
is encouraged, as in science,
the dominant paradigm
or
mindset
can
prevent certain challenges, theories or
experiments from being
advanced.
66
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Introduction
to Cultural Anthropology
SOC401
VU
The
philosophy
of science mostly
concerns itself with
reducing the impact of these
prior ideologies so
that
science
can proceed with its primary
task, which is (according to
science) to create knowledge.
There
are critics who view
science as an ideology itself, called
scientism.
Some scientists respond that,
while
the
scientific method is itself an ideology, as it is a
collection of ideas, there is
nothing particularly wrong or
bad
about it.
Other
critics point out that
while science itself is not
a misleading ideology, there
are some fields of
study
within
science that are misleading.
Two examples discussed here
are in the fields of ecology and
economics.
Useful
Terms
Discourse:
discussion
or dialogue
Proposition:
proposal or
plan
Paradigm:
standard,
pattern or example
Doctrine:
set of
guidelines
Comprehensive:
complete, all-inclusive
Ecology:
concerning
the species found in the natural
environment
Moral
entrepreneurs: those
who make up new morals
according to their cultural
needs
Suggested
Readings
Please
visit the following web-site
for this lecture, which
provide useful and interesting
information:
Ideology7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology
7
Please visit
the hyperlinks on the
website to read more about
topics mentioned in the
lecture
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