The concept of Ideology is based on a culture's specific idea of sets of beliefs and customs. This also deals with habits and rituals which are continuously practiced in the given society. Those who abide by these customs, the beliefs in which they stand by are conceived to be the truth, it is what is believed to be natural and useful to their lives and to those in their culture. However, different truths apply to different people and cultures. Religion is a perfect example of an ideology, a truth that is perceived by one group of people, but considered to be aloof to another. The contrast between Muslim faith and Catholic faith, they both possess different ideas of truth, faith, and belief. These sets of beliefs may seem arbitrary, or false to those who adhere to another ideology. "Within any given culture, many ideologies coexist; some are marginalized while others are hegemonic (i.e. dominant and the cultural norm)"
Now that we have understood the underlying message behind what ideology is, the next question this proposes is: what does it do? In class, it was listed that Ideology:
1. Limits the range of acceptable and even conceivable ideas.
2. Normalizes (e.g., naturalizes) particular sets of social relations.
3. Privileges some interests over others.
4. Interpellates individuals into subjects.
Ideologies may be held consciously or unconsciously, people are also either forced into these ideologies or simply willing to adapt to them. Hailing is term used to describe when individuals recognize and respond to an ideology and allow it to represent who they are. Culture is closely related to the concept of ideology, these two impacts reflect on the individual, as our textbook states, individuals are “always already interpellated” into ideology.
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