In this post I will
be talking about ideology and the effect it has on people. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the
session in which we discussed this subject so I will be relying solely on the
presentation that was uploaded on the college resource page.
Ideology refers to
the thoughts, beliefs and social values of individuals or a collective that
help to provide context and meaning in everyday life. This basically means that ideologies are what
make up everyone's social and moral compass.
The very first slide
in the presentation talked about Jeremy Bentham's panopticon. A circular prison with a tower in the middle,
this is where the guards would monitor the prisoners. In their cells, the prisoners would be unable
to see the guards in the tower but the opposing party would still be able to
see them. This would mean that the
guards wouldn't have to be on duty all the time and the prisoners would feel
under constant scrutiny which in turn would encourage the inmates to behave
better.
This concept has made
its way into today's society in regards to the amount of CCTV cameras there are
in the country watching our every move.
This draws parallels between the panopticon and real-life in reference
to behaving under the notion that we are being monitored constantly by
authority regardless of whether or not if anyone is on duty. I honestly think that this is a bit excessive
because everyone is being scrutinised even if they are innocent. We have learned to accept this.
We then moved on to Karl
Marx. He talks about how ideologies are
imposed upon the working classes by those that have a major influence who in
turn legitimates their position.
Legitimate powers can't just be thrown aside on a whim. Afterwards we looked at Gramsci who says that
ideology provides each class with an identity despite being part of the system.
We next looked at
hegemony which refers to an ideology becoming part of everyone's common sense
and understanding. Gramsci says that
hegemony is enforced not by force but by consent. Building up alliances is what helps the
concept of hegemony survive as a means of maintaining power. I personally think that hegemony is a very
difficult thing to get over in regards to the amount of time it has been in
effect.
We moved on to Althusser. He talks about methods of imposing ideologies
on people which are Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological States Apparatuses. RSA refers to government administrations, the
police and the army who function by violence to force people into the dominant
ideology. ISA entail schools, churches,
family and belief in the law to gently nudge people towards the dominant
ideology.
A quote from Tony
Benn, a member of the British Labour Party says “If democracy is ever to be
threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices
and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come
from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the
New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented.” I personally like this statement as it says
that democracy will be threatened once governments start to dictate and monitor
their people instead of existing for the people.
We then looked at a
few dominant ideologies such as liberalism and social democracy. Afterwards we looked at radical ideologies
such as socialism, communism and Marxism.
People sometimes use ideology as a means of liberation against the
struggle of the status quo. Ideologies
are most prominent in political and religious movements. James Scott puts forward the thick and thin
theory in regards to enforcing ideologies on people. The thick theory explains that people who
believe actively in values that justify their own subordination and the thin
theory which refers to the thought that conditions the individual is living in
is natural and inevitable.
I personally think
that ideologies can both be a good thing and a bad thing. It's good that people hold on to certain
values that help them through their life but it’s dangerous when people believe
in their own values too much that they must enforce it on everyone else and
anyone who disagrees will be savagely and brutally punished. Religious fundamentalists are a prime example
of my second statement. Ideologies are what
define people as individuals.
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