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Ideology and science (Science as a belief system (The sociology of…
Ideology and science
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Ideology
Definition: a world view or set of ideas (a belief system), They often include negative impacts such as
- Distorted or mistaken ideas (a one sided view).
- Ideas that conceal the interests of a particular group or legitimate them.
- Ideas that prevent change by misleading people about the reality of the situation.
- A self-sustaining belief system that is irrational or closed to criticism.
Marxism and ideology - Sees society as divided into two apposed classes. The capitalist class take advantage of their position, exploiting the w/c labour for profit. Therefore it is in the w/c interest to overthrow capitalism by means of a socialist revolution. For this to happen the W/C need to become conscious of their true position, exploited wage slaves. However the ruling class control not only the means of production but also the production of ideas i.e. through education, the mass media and religion. These produce the ruling class ideology, justifying the status quo. Ruling class ideology includes ideas and beliefs such as:
- Equality goes against human nature
- Victim blaming, everyone has an equal chance of life.
- Racist ideas such as the inferiority of ethnic minorities.
Hegemony and revolution - Gramsci refers to ruling class ideological domination of society as hegemony, He argues that working class can develop ideas and challenge ruling-class hegemony, this is because in capitalist society w/c have a dual consciousness a mixture of ruling class ideas and their own that are direct experiences of exploitation and their struggles against it. Therefore it is possible for w/c to develop class consciousness and overthrow capitalism.Some criticise this view that it is not the existence of a dominant ideology that keeps people in line. Abercrombie argues its economic factors such as fear of unemployment.
The ideology of nationalism - Nationalism is an important political ideology that has had a major impact on the world over the last two years. Nations are real, distinctive communities each one with its own unique characteristics and a long shared history.
- Every nation should be self-governing.
- National loyalty and identity should come before all others such as a tribe, class or religion.
Anderson: Nation is an imagined community not a real one. Although we identify with it we don’t know most of its members, it can bind millions of strangers together create and sense of common purpose.
Marxism: nationalism as false consciousness - in the Marxist view nationalism is a form of false class consciousness which helps to prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the international working class. This is because nationalism encourages people to think they have more in common with the capitalist class of their own country than with their counter parts in other countries. This enables the capitalist class the persuade them to fight wars on their behalf.
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Functionalism: Nationalism as civil religion -Nationalism is a secular civil religion (Bruce), it integrates people into larger social and political units by making them feel part of something bigger than themselves.In secular societies, people may be unwilling to believe in the supernatural but willing to see themselves as part of a nation. Where there are many beliefs in a society causing division and conflict, nationalism unites everyone as a whole regardless.
Gellner: nationalism and modernity - Also sees nationalism as false consciousness, it claims that nations have existed since time immemorial is untrue, he says nationalism is very modern.in the past societies were not held together by nationalism but by face to face interactions in small scale communities or of ascribed status.Modern society is very different it is large scale, impersonal with a complex division of labour where all are equal before the law. Therefore they need some means of enabling communication between strangers which nationalism makes possible i.e. through a shared mass education system.
Karl Mannheim: ideology and utopia - All belief systems are a partial or one sided view, the view point of a particular group or class. He says there are two types of belief system or world view.
- Ideological thought: Justifies keeping things as they are, where certain groups benefit from maintaining the status quo (beliefs conservative)
- Utopian thought: Justifies social change: reflects the position of the underprivileged offering a different version of society. I.e. a classless society (Marxism is a utopian thought).
However these groups only present the ideas of a one sided world view so they are only producing partial views of reality, this in turn causes conflict between the different groups.
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