IDEOLOGY

a systematic body of beliefs about the structure and working of society that includes a program of practical politics based on a comprehensive theory of human nature and requiring a protracted social struggle to enact. Such comprehensive and action-centred doctrines about society were characteristic of the 19th century in particular, which for that reason is sometimes referred to as the age of ideology. Since then there have been many different definitions of ideology, and most original political and sociological thinkers have used the word in their own characteristic sense. The word ideology was coined in 1796 by the French writer A.L.C. Destutt de Tracy as a name for his own science of ideas. To establish this science Destutt de Tracy relied on the sensationalist epistemology of John Locke and tienne Bonnot de Condillac, as well as on Francis Bacon's faith in the meliorative value of scientific knowledge. Human intellectual faculties are simply another aspect of our animal nature, he wrote, and ideology is a part of zoology. Destutt de Tracy and his supporters called themselves idologistes, and their program, adopted by the Directory as official doctrine between the years 1795 and 1799, aimed at the creation of a democratic, rational, and scientific society. The idologistes quickly lost power with the rise of Napoleon, who reorganized the idologiste stronghold in the Institut National in 180203 and began to heap scorn upon them as idologues. It was then that the word first acquired a pejorative connotation. Certain characteristics of Destutt de Tracy's thought were to prove to be true generally of ideologies: it presented a more or less comprehensive theory of society, it established a political program, it foresaw a struggle for the implementation of that program and required therefore followers who were committed to it, and it envisioned a leadership of intellectuals. Implicit in any ideology thus characterized is a challenge to established secular and religious leadership, and it is that challenge that has linked ideology with revolution both of the left and of the right. In the modern age Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Nazism have been among the most fully articulated ideologies and among the most successful in winning recruits to their various programs. This connection of ideology with political activism and even extremism has added other, and generally pejorative, shades of meaning to the term. The classical pejorative characterization of the concept of ideology is in the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Their view of ideology stemmed from their materialistic conception of history. The ideas of the members of the bourgeois class, for instance, reflect their own class interests rather than an objectively true picture of society. The ideas of this particular class, however, are thrust upon the proletariat as well, serving to preserve the dominant position of the bourgeoisie. Certain ideas, as of social mobility, liberty, and even love, are myths whose passive acceptance by the proletariat serves to solidify the status quo. Ideology, in Marxist doctrine, is thus a system of illusions about the nature of society. In more common political discourse, ideology is frequently contrasted unfavourably with pragmatism and ideologists with experienced and worldly practitioners of politics. To the extent that any ideology insists upon its particular encompassing theory of man and society and on a program predicated on that theory, it is, to be sure, at odds with the aims and practices of pluralistic societies. The similarities between ideology and militant religious belief have often been noted, as has the fact that the rise of ideologies occurred in an age also marked by rapidly increasing secularism. a form of social or political philosophy in which practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones. It is a system of ideas that aspires both to explain the world and to change it. This article describes the nature, history, and significance of ideologies in terms of the philosophical, political, and international contexts in which they have arisen. For discussions of particular categories of ideology, see the articles socialism, communism, anarchism, fascism, nationalism, liberalism, and conservatism. Additional reading A useful introduction is M. Seliger, Ideology and Politics (1976), which works from a broad definition of the concept of ideology. John Plamenatz, Ideology (1970), is a clear and uncomplicated study by a distinguished Oxford philosopher. Jean Baechler, Qu'est-ce que l'idologie? (1976), is characteristically French in its approach and affords an equally lucid introduction to both the sociological and the historical aspects of the problem. Other books written at a fairly popular level include Patrick Corbett, Ideologies (1966); Roy C. Macridis, Contemporary Political Ideologies: Movements and Regimes, 5th ed. (1992); and Leon P. Baradat, Political Ideologies: Their Origins and Impact, 5th ed. (1993).Few of the works of the original French idologues are available in modern editions and even fewer in English translations. However, Richard H. Cox (ed.), Ideology, Politics, and Political Theory (1969), contains short translated excerpts from Destutt de Tracy and his contemporaries as well as from more recent works. A.L.C. Destutt De Tracy, A Treatise on Political Economy, trans. from French, rev. by Thomas Jefferson (1817, reprinted 1973), is his major work in the field; and the expository study by Franois Joseph Picavet, Les Idologues (1891, reprinted 1975), remains a classic. The life of Destutt de Tracy and his role in the origins of ideology are traced in Emmet Kennedy, A Philosophe in the Age of Revolution: Destutt de Tracy and the Origins of Ideology (1978).george Lichtheim, The Concept of Ideology (1967), contains a short but well-informed and sympathetic analysis of ideology as it figures in Hegelian and Marxist thought. Louis Althusser, Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx, trans. from French (1972, reissued as both Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Marx and Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx: Politics and History, 1982), traces the relationship between Hegelian and Marxist thought. G.W.F. Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1857, reissued 1956; originally published in German, 3rd ed., 1848), shows relevant elements in his philosophy. Valuable commentaries are provided by Alexandre Kojve, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel (1969, reissued 1980; originally published in French, 1947); Charles Taylor, Hegel (1975); and Jean Hyppolite, Studies on Marx and Hegel (1969, reissued 1973; originally published in French, 1955). For Marxist philosophy, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The German Ideology, rev. ed., 2 vol. in 1 (1976; originally published in German, 1932), is the fundamental text. Recent treatments of ideology in the Marxist tradition include Alvin W. Gouldner, The Dialectic of Ideology and Technology (1976, reissued 1982); Jorge Larrain, The Concept of Ideology (1979, reprinted 1992), and Marxism and Ideology (1983, reprinted 1991); Colin Sumner, Reading Ideologies: An Investigation into the Marxist Theory of Ideology and Law (1979); and Joe McCarney, The Real World of Ideology (1980). More advanced students will find useful Walter Carlsnaes, The Concept of Ideology and Political Analysis (1981).Writers who have attempted to formulate a neo-Marxist theory of ideology, drawing in part on Hegelian philosophy, include Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man (1964, reissued 1991); Jrgen Habermas, Toward a Rational Society (1971); and Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia, new ed. (1991; originally published in German, 1929). Also worthy of attention are Louis Althusser, Essays on Ideology (1984); and Raymond Boudon, The Analysis of Ideology (1989; originally published in French, 1986).Interpretations of ideology that are directly opposed to Marxist theory include James R. Flynn, Humanism and Ideology (1973); Lewis S. Feuer, Ideology and the Ideologists (1975); Martin Seliger, The Marxist Conception of Ideology (1977); and D.J. Manning (ed.), The Form of Ideology (1980). Jean-Paul Sartre, Critique of Dialectical Reason (1976; originally published in French, 1960), constructs a theory of ideology as a marginal system of ideas that is consciously designed as an alternative to Marxist theory.Historical studies that take a relatively extensive view of the impact of ideology as a revolutionary force in the modern world are James H. Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men (1980); Melvin J. Lasky, Utopia and Revolution (1976); and Jeanne Hersch, Idologies et ralit (1956). Hans Kohn, Political Ideologies of the Twentieth Century, 3rd ed. rev. (1966); Isaac Kramnick and Frederick M. Watkins, The Age of Ideology: Political Thought, 1750 to the Present, 2nd ed. (1979); and Trygve R. Tholfsen, Ideology and Revolution in Modern Europe: An Essay on the Role of Ideas in History (1984), treat ideology as the dominant characteristic of modern political thinking. More polemical commentaries on the development of ideology include Albert Camus, The Rebel (1953, reissued 1991; originally published in French, 1951); Jean Franois Revel, Pourquoi des philosophes? (1957, reissued 1976); and Karl Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (1957, reissued 1986). A systematic critique of the whole notion of ideological politics may be found in Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct (1975, reissued 1991), On History and Other Essays (1983), and Rationalism in Politics, new and expanded ed. (1991).raymond Aron, The Opium of the Intellectuals (1957, reprinted 1985; originally published in French, 1955), points to a decline in ideological politics in the West; as does Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology, rev. ed. (1962, reissued 1988). Less confident views are advanced in David E. Apter (ed.), Ideology and Discontent (1964); and Sidney Hook, Pragmatism and the Tragic Sense of Life (1975). An excellent compilation of the contrasting positions in the End of Ideology debate is Chaim I. Waxman (ed.), The End of Ideology Debate (1968). Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (1992), asserts that all ideological alternatives to liberal democracy have been discredited.Sociological aspects of ideology are explored in Donald G. MacRae, Ideology and Society (1961); Norman Birnbaum, The Sociological Study of Ideology (19401960) (1962); Eric Carlton, Ideology and Social Order (1977); Franois Bourricaud, Le Bricolage idologique (1980); and Graham C. Kinloch, Ideology and Contemporary Sociological Theory (1981).The relationship between ideology and political domination is examined in Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith (eds. and trans.), Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci (1971, reissued 1987). Arne Naess, Democracy, Ideology, and Objectivity (1956), written from the perspective of political philosophy, was the first of a series of works that investigate the relationship between ideology and liberty. Others worthy of mention are Z.A. Jordan, Philosophy and Ideology (1963); Judith N. Shklar (ed.), Political Theory and Ideology (1966); Dante Germino, Beyond Ideology (1967, reprinted 1976); and Maurice Cranston and Peter Mair (eds.), Ideology and Politics (1980). Kenneth Minogue, Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology (1985), uses both a philosophical and a historical approach to provide a far-reaching survey of the subject. Among books that stay close to the main tradition of American political science, the following are notable: Robert E. Lane, Political Ideology (1962); William E. Connolly, Political Science & Ideology (1967); and Robert A. Dahl, After the Revolution?, rev. ed. (1990). Andrew Gyorgy and George D. Blackwood, Ideologies in World Affairs (1967), analyzes the emergence of ideology as a decisive factor in international relations. Students interested in such modern ideologies as environmentalism and animal rights should consult Ian Adams, Political Ideology Today (1993). Maurice Cranston The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica