Jan 31: Ideology

On p. 97, the book states that “Ideology is that group of intertwining beliefs that makes possible certain kinds of cultural consensus or knowledge, but precisely because it is everywhere and nowhere, ideology tends to disappear-so to speak- “into” the things that it makes possible.” Do you agree or disagree that Ideology has the capability to create things, or is it just a group of thoughts that generate discussion?

[This is Will’s question for Tuesday’s reading, posted by me.]

3 thoughts on “Jan 31: Ideology

  1. I think that ideology does have the ability to create things in the sense that it makes cultural phenomenon appear natural or normal. But I think at the same time, ideologies were created by the people that use them. But I feel like it near impossible to trace it’s origins. It has become the thought before the action (p.99). Outside of the cultural context I think that individuals can have very different ideologies about the world, even if they are in the same culture.

  2. After reading the chapter I feel like, to me at least, ideology is more the name given to ideas. I feel that the ideas are already there and are simply sorted into different groupings of ideologies. The authors talk a lot about the idea of both ideology and common sense being very similar “Ideology, understood as a kind of cultural common sense, doesn’t need to be articulated, discussed, or justified.” (pg. 97) I read this and other parts of the chapter as showing that the ideas are already present either in the community at hand or the culture in general and that ideology is just a way of sorting those ideas into frameworks that can be built up upon. The authors example of how science is built upon the scientific method that they used in the beginning of the chapter describes how ideology is often found. I think that ideology is a good way to build from something but shouldn’t be the one and only starting point.

  3. I believe ideology “as a network or consensus of interconnected ideas,” has the ability to create things (96). Ideology acts as a catalyst by establishing a starting point of preconceived ideas that facilitate a discourse or line of actions that create a new ideology or reestablish a previous one in a new way. As the Theory Toolbox shows with its photosynthesis example “knowledges and ideologies-obviously change over time,” (97).

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