ESPS7104

Ideologies and political hegemony

Write and submit an essay of 2,500 words by Wednesday 23 March 2016.

1. Is ideology necessarily false? If so, why?

2. While Gramsci builds upon the Marxist tradition, his notion of hegemony
represents an important reinterpretation of the concept of ideology. Discuss.
3. Why has Conservatism been described as a philosophy of imperfection?
4. How far are modern liberals willing to go in endorsing social and economic
intervention?
5. To what extent is social democracy a form of socialism?
6. Fascism is simply a form of nationalism. Discuss.
7. To what extent is globalisation synonymous with neoliberalism?
8. Ecologism provides a radically different vision of nature and of the place of human
beings within it, one that favours ecocentrism and challenges anthropocentrism.
Discuss.
9. Why has the distinction between sex and gender been so important to feminism?
10. Many scholars have expressed doubts as to whether the notion of populism has any

analytical utility, concluding that it is simply too vague to tell anything meaningful
about politics. Discuss.