Ideology

Definition of Ideology

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of Ideology: A linked set of ideas and beliefs that act to uphold and justify an existing or desired arrangement of power, authority, wealth and status in a society. For example, a socialist ideology advocates the transformation of society from capitalism to collective ownership and economic equality. In contrast, a liberal ideology associated with capitalist societies upholds that system as the best, most moral, most desirable form of social arrangement. Patriarchal ideology also has this characteristic of asserting claims and beliefs that justify a social arrangement: in this case, male social domination of women. Another example is a racist ideology claiming that people can be classified into distinct races and that some races are inferior to others. Racist ideologies are used as justifications for systems of slavery or colonial exploitation. Although there is often a dominant ideology in a society, there can also be counter-ideologies that advocate transformation of social relationships. See: DOMINANT IDEOLOGY THESIS / HEGEMONY in this legal dictionary and in the world encyclopedia of law.

Ideology: Resources

Notes and References

• Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) Ideology. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada

Grammar

This term is a noun.

Etimology of Ideology

(You may find ideology at the world legal encyclopedia and the etimology of more terms).

1796, “science of ideas,” originally “philosophy of the mind which derives knowledge from the senses” (as opposed to metaphysics), from French idéologie “study or science of ideas,” coined by French philosopher Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836) from idéo- “of ideas,” from Greek idea (see idea) + -logie (see -logy). With connective -o- because the elements are Greek. Destutt published his Eléments d’idéologie 1801-1815. The term ideology did not become widely employed in the nineteenth century, however, and I have not found that Emerson ever used it. It was only after the appearance of Karl Marx’s long unpublished The German Ideology and Karl Mannheim’s Ideology and Utopia in the period between the world wars of the twentieth century that the term became an omnipresent one. [Lewis P. Simpson, “Mind and the American Civil War,” 1989] Meaning “systematic set of ideas, doctrines through which the world is interpreted” was in use in English by 1907, earliest in socialist and communist writing, with reference to class; from 1918 it came to be used of socialism and communism themselves (along with fascism) and later more broadly still. Ideology … is usually taken to mean, a prescriptive doctrine that is not supported by rational argument. [D.D. Raphael, “Problems of Political Philosophy,” 1970]

Resources

Legal English Vocabulary: Ideology in Spanish

Online translation of the English legal term ideology into Spanish: ideología (English to Spanish translation) . More about legal dictionary from english to spanish online.

Related to the Legal Thesaurus

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See Also

• Parliamentary Law
• Political Law
• Political Constitution
• Political Science
• Politics