The word ideology seeks its origin from the French, idéologie (ideo + logy) meaning ‘science of ideas’. The French philosopher, Destutt de Tracy is said to have used the term ideology to refer to ‘science of ideas’ in 1796.21 Ideology is described as a set of opinions, ideas, beliefs and values that shape the thought, behaviour and action of a group of people or social class. Generally, an ideology is associated with ideas and thoughts of a particular social class but it enjoys predominance and is taken as if it is the reality. It is presented as an organized and coherent system of ideas, beliefs, values that exercise common acceptance as reality and form the basis of social, economic and political philosophy and programmes. Since predominant ideology is presented for mass acceptance, it can manifest in many forms. Noam Chomsky says that in the name of consent of the people, opinion is manufactured and is ‘manufactured consent’; Gramsci says that ‘common sense’ is hegemonic ideology and the Marxian view depicts ideology as ‘false consciousness’ for the proletariat.
Ideology provides basis for justifying the existing system or alternatively, provoking political action and social change. Ideology involves the following characteristics:
- Ideology refers to a set of ideas and beliefs presented in a coherent manner.
- It justifies the existing order by providing explanation for its legitimacy and creating a general view in such direction, or alternatively, aims at political action and social change to achieve desired order by questioning its legitimacy.
- The ideas that appear as part of ideology, are presented as the only reality.
- Ideologies become basis for political movements.
- We refer to bourgeoisie ideology, socialist ideology, fascist ideology to characterize a set of ideas that appear or are presented as political philosophies of different sets of political movements.
Ideological power flows from how ideology of a social class or a group of people become dominant and is treated by everyone as if that is the only reality. It is power, which a set of opinions, ideas, beliefs and values of a social class exercise in society. It is meant to convince people about legitimacy of the existing system and as such, ideology is status quoist, e.g. the bourgeoisie ideology. Alternatively, it also provides a basis for political action and as such, ideology can be change-oriented, e.g. socialist ideology.
Let us see how certain concepts and causes, that we all subscribe to, can be part of ideological power. For example, the concept of national interest is treated as if every citizen is a uniform beneficiary of everything that a nation owns, produces or distributes. In the Marxian view, national interests are nothing but the interests of the ruling class presented as general interests. Similarly, the government in democracy is presented as representative of the interests of all citizens. However, it would not require philosophic wisdom to decipher that most of the time it represents interests of only a section of people. There can be a variety of examples where specific beliefs, explanations and political concepts could be presented as if they represent the mass base.
Marx was categorical in associating ideology with the ideas of the ruling class. The German Ideology dealt with the issue of ‘production of consciousness’ and ideological power. The famous statement appears as:
The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lacks the means of mental production are subject to it.22
The import of the statement is that the bourgeois class not only owns the means of production, industry, finance, capital and market but also presents its ideas as if they are common sense, public opinion and consent of the general mass. For Marx, ideological power lies in its capacity to mystify reality and present a distorted, manipulated and false picture of the material condition. Why does bourgeoisie need ideological power to mystify reality? The Marxian view suggests that a capitalist system has an irreconcilable class division and the two main classes, bourgeoisie and the proletariat, are engaged in a contradictory social relationship. To hide class contradiction and conceal reality, the present capitalism makes the state appear as a neutral arbiter and an agency of welfare of all people and market as an arena of equal opportunity. They delude the proletariat and mystify the true character of economic relations. Acceptance of such a system of ideas leads to false consciousness and until the proletariat fail to understand this mystification, proletarian revolutionary consciousness cannot be attained. Marxian analysis finds ideology and ideological power as a powerful instrument in the hands of the bourgeoisie through which they legitimize their class rule.
However, as Heywood suggests, Marx did not consider his own uncovering of the process of class exploitation, theory of proletarian revolution and socialist–communist society as ideology, rather treats as scientific law of historical development. In the same manner, as Marx portrays bourgeois ideology as manipulative, mystifying and false, one can argue that Marxism represents the same, at least when the socialist states under the party bureaucracy spread their own ideology. However, Marx differentiates between ideology and scientific truth and holds that historical materialism is a scientific theory and proletarian revolution, a historical necessity.
Gramsci pointed out that in a capitalist society, civil society and its institutions such as family, church, schools etc. produce favourable conditions for justifying the existing system. While the state uses its coercive power through police, prisons and military, civil society generates opinion and consent suitable to the continuance of the capitalist system. In political sociology, what we call political socialization, Gramsci describes as hegemony. As in political socialization, political traits and behaviour are transmitted to the next generation, in hegemony, institutions of the civil society spread the opinion, ideas and beliefs suitable to the capitalist system as if they are common sense matter. For example, in the educational system, grading as per merit points inculcate behaviour suitable to competitive aspect; familial emphasis on respect to elders and obedience prepares for political obedience and obligation, discipline in assembly line production; religious submission teaches submission to the state, capitalist. By inculcating and instilling such behavioural aspects, these institutions produce the conditions of production, discipline in assembly line production, competition, etc. Louis Althusser also supported the view but he maintained that ideological power is exercised by what he calls ‘The Ideological Apparatuses of the State’, such as church, political parties, etc.
The uniqueness of the orthodox Marxian analysis of ideological power lies in identifying ideological power with the ideas of the economically dominant class and not with philosophy, religion, tradition or morality. The Marxian perspective suggests that ideological power emanates from economic power and produces legitimacy for the system.
Some writers have analysed ideology in the context of emergence of totalitarian dictatorships and their official ideology. In the mid-twentieth century, Hannah Arendt (The Origins of Totalitarianism), J. L. Talmon (The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy), Carl J. Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski (Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy), Alex Inkeles (‘The Totalitarian Mystique’) and others have analysed how official ideology of Communism, Nazism and Fascism provides doctrinal basis for a totalitarian system.23
Official ideology provides doctrinal basis of controlling on thought and for exercising ideological power. In this context, ideological power is exercised through social control and control on thought and results in closed society. George Orwell’s perceptive novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four24 portrayed the process of ideological control and introduced terms like ‘thought police’, ‘big brother’, etc. Karl Popper in his two-volume. The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) argues that ideology is used as a mechanism of social control and results in closed society.
Writers such as C. Wright Mills (White Collar: The American Middle Classes) Vance Packard (The Hidden Persuaders), Herbert Marcuse (One-Dimensional Man), and others have talked about influences and manipulative effects on human beings. Advertisements creating false needs, market requirements creating false and insincere expressions by individual, e.g., compulsive smile of the sales girls/boys at a sales counter etc. are examples of non-visible influences. They come to control thought and behaviour of individuals and overwhelmingly instil the idea that this is the only reality.
Our analysis above suggests that ideological power flows from how ideas, thoughts and beliefs are controlled and used. Official ideology, in fact is used to justify and control political power. The Marxian theory suggests that ideological power is an ally of the economic power. However, in totalitarian systems, including allegedly the communist system, ideological power is used to justify political power.
Two other dimensions of power that we have hinted above, legal and coercive power are by their nature and content, prerogatives of the state. The state and its institutions enjoy coercive power and power to legislate and enforce. The state is generally identified with coercive, legal and political powers.
Leave a Reply