Professional Documents
Culture Documents
– an introdu
ction
• Information sourced from
• Heywood, A. (1998), Political Ideologies:
• An introduction. Palgrave Macmillan: Hampshire.
Outline of Unit
What is ideology?
WHAT IS ‘IDEOLOGY’?
ISM’s!
• We are basically going
to be looking at many
of the words ending in
–ism, such as liberalism,
conservatism, socialism,
communism, religious
fundamentalism,
feminism,
totalitarianism etc.
What is ideology?
ON TARGET
The use of
ideology as a
political term
has a lot to do
with the work of
Karl Marx
(1818-1883)
The definition we will use in our class:
An ideology is a more or less
coherent set of ideas that
provides the basis for organised
political action, whether this is
intended to preserve, modify or
overthrow the existing system of
power.
Take note!
LIBERALISM
Core themes
This ideology is in a sense the ideology
of the ‘Industrialised West’
CONSERVATISM
Core themes
Conservatism: Core themes
Central beliefs of conservatism are
based around the ideas of:
• tradition
• human imperfection
• organic society
• hierarchy and authority
• property
Conservatism: Tradition
• Conservatives argue for the
preservation of ‘tradition’, in
particular with regards to values,
practices and institutions
Core themes
SOCIALISM
Core Themes
• Community
• Cooperation
• Equality
• Class politics
• Common ownership
Community
Emphasis is on social
class as the
determining factor of
society
Social Class
FASCISM
Core themes
Origin
While liberalism, conservatism and
socialism are ideas that have their
roots in the 19th Century, fascism
was born in the period between the
first world wars, and emerged most
dramatically in Italy and Germany.
Italian Fascism
–Benito Mussolini and his
Fascist Party came to power in
Italy in the 1920s and lasted
until the 2nd World War, upon
which he was executed by the
Italian partisans and hung by
his feet in a square in Milano
German Fascism
–Adolf Hitler and his
Nazi Party came to
power in the 1930s and
lasted until the Second
World War, until the
defeat of Germany by
the Allies.
Features of fascism
It is a difficult ideology to define, but
some of its common themes include:
• A reaction against rationalism, or the use
of reason to make sense of the world
• A belief that life is struggle, and that the
strongest survive (influenced by Darwin’s
idea of natural selection)
Features of fascism
• Does not believe in equality; instead
believes in elitism, or that some people are
born leaders
CAPITALISM
Core themes
Capitalism
• Is an economic system that is focused
on profit, and the major part of
production is privately owned
• Goods and services are created in
order to generate profit
The ‘Market’
TOTALITARIANISM
Core themes
Totalitarianism
• Is a political system where the state
(in the hands of perhaps one person
or a small group/party) controls
almost everything in its territory. All
freedom is removed, and all
subjects are under control of the
authority. It is a ‘total system’ of
control.
Totalitarianism
• It establishes its rule by
ideological manipulation
(controlling the minds of its
subjects), terror and
brutality.
ON TARGET
ANARCHISM
Core themes
Anarchism
RELIGIOUS
FUNDAMENTALISM
Core themes
Religious Fundamentalism
Rejects the distinction between
politics and religion; for
fundamentalists, ‘politics is
religion’
(Khomeini, leader of the
Islamic Revolution of
Iran in 1979)
Religious Fundamentalism
•Maintains a commitment to ideas and
values that are seen as basic or fundamental
NATIONALISM
Core themes
Nationalism
A firm belief in the idea that the
‘nation’ should be the central principle
of political organization.
ON TARGET
ENVIRONMENTALISM
Environmentalism
GLOBALIZATION
Globalization
•This term describes the process through
which economies, societies and cultures
become further integrated through a
global network of political ideas
through communication, transportation
and trade.
Globalization
•Whether the term is an ideology
or not is debatable, but it is an
idea that more and more comes
to influence the way we see the
world.