Ideology after Poststructuralism

The SAGE Handbook of Political Sociology: Two Volume Set

By contrast with many political concepts, ideology has fairly clear beginnings. Whilst several early enlightenment thinkers developed important accounts of the role of ideas as part of their challenge to the existing intellectual frameworks, 5 the term ideology emerged out of the French enlightenment, and in particular the work of Antoine Destutt de Tracy. De Tracy's Éléments d'Idéologie sought to lay the foundations of a new science of ideasan idea-logybased on a largely materialist theory which rooted ideas in physiological sensations. 6 De Tracy and fellow ideologues like Joseph Marie Degérando, George Cabanis and Constatin de Volney enjoyed a short period of success in revolutionary France. 7 They fell foul, however, of Napoleonwho, after a brief period of patronage, rapidly turned against them as his French Empire came under criticism from liberals and republicans. 8 The ideologues were directly suppressed from 1803 onwards, with Napoleon declaring them 'dreamers and dangerous dreamers', 'brooders' and 'empty brains', who pursued a 'shadowy metaphysics' to which 'we must lay the blame for the ills that our fair France has suffered'. 9 The immediate post-Napoleonic era retained this division between a broad vision of ideology on the one hand, and a narrower, negative meaning on the othera famous organising narrative for discussing the conceptual ambiguity of the term. De Tracy's Éléments remained popular in some circles, but forces loyal to the restored Bourbon monarchy (as well as others both inside and outside France) railed against 'ideology' as denoting dangerous republican radicalism. 10 In consequence, this negative usage gained the upper hand, and by the time of the 1848 revolutions 'Napoleon's association of "ideology" with abstract metaphysics and utopian, political liberalism became a widespread pejorative usage'. 11 Such an understanding of ideology remained a largely untheoretical notion of public political rhetoric, but laid the foundation for its much more intellectually influential mobilisation by Karl Marx.

2018

The concept of ideology appears elusive, in it are combined philosophical, political, sociological, historical, epistemological, pedagogical interpretations. This short essay tries to give an interpretation in light of the contribution offered by the reflections of Marx and hermeneutical philosophy and, especially in light of the international phenomena in the Mediterranean and Middle East and recent economic crises, it overcomes the vision of that particular current of late '900 that wanted the era of ideologies as a land no longer fertile and destined for sunset.

Consider, as a final example, the attitude of contemporary American liberals to the unending hopelessness and misery of the lives of the young blacks in American ciries. Do we say that these people must be helped because they are our fellow human beings? We may, but it is much more persuasive, morally as well as politically, to describe them as our fellow Americans -to insist that it is outrageous that an American should live wichout hope.

Pólemos. Materiali di filosofia e critica sociale, 2016

1968

Ctheory, 1984

Overcoming the Nature Versus Nurture Debate, 2023

The concept of ideology is central to the understanding of the many political, economic, social, and cultural processes that have occurred in the last two centuries. And yet, what is the nature of the different ideologies remains a vague, open, and much disputed question. Many political, sociological, and ideological studies have been devoted to ideology. Very little, on the other hand, has been done from the philosophical field. And this despite the fact that there are undoubtedly many philosophical questions related to ideology and its role in modern industrialized societies. Just a few examples of ideology-related philosophical questions suffice to prove the point: What objects do ideologies deal with? Are the ideologies testable? Are there true ideologies? Do they evolve? How are ideologies related to societies? Is the existence of ideologies inevitable in modern societies? What is the relation of ideology to science? Is science just another kind of ideology? Are we, as human beings, innately predisposed to believe in ideologies? Or, instead, ideologies proliferate through indoctrination and propaganda? Are ideologies necessarily harmful?... and much more. In this article I try to answer some of these questions from a philosophical point of view, taking a materialist approach. I begin by characterizing ideology as a complex, multi-layered concept. Then, I briefly discuss the material systems on which ideological movements operate, that is, societies and concrete human groups. I identify at least 11 different elements that seem to be present in most ideologies, and I compare these characteristics with those of contemporary science and technology. Although some superficial similarities can be identified, there are deep differences that make ideology completely different from science. The similarities, however, are stronger with technology. Ideologies continually evolve with technological advances, social changes, and even with mere fashion. The current fragmentation of ideologies caused by the widespread use of new technologies and social networks has given rise to new phenomena of ideological propagation which, in my opinion, are very dangerous, particularly for open societies. I discuss these processes, within the context of the nature vs nurture debate, along with the question of whether we can get rid of ideologies.

Journal of Political Ideologies, 2024

In this editorial, I push forward discussion within ideology studies about whether ideology should be seen as a collective or an individual phenomenon. I talk about how the thought of particular thinkers is elevated to the status of 'name-tagged' ideologies, and what that means for how we receive and interpret it. I put forward a number of models for how we should understand the relationship between collective and individual ideologies, as familles spirituelles, rosters, statements of accounts, 'bodies ideologic', and ideal theories. I talk about how the idea of hybridity affects the processes of our ideological socialisation. And I give examples for how this theoretical advance can be used in both the study of canonical thinkers in political theory and the history of ideas, and the study of everyday thinking and ordinary behaviour.

Academia Letters, 2021

The historical roots of the concept of ideology can be traced back to the French Revolution, when Antoine Destutt de Tracy proposed the "science des idées", or the study and analysis of ideas and thought-formation. 1 Contemporary definitions of ideology continue to make reference to this notion. Social psychologist L.B. Brown, for example, defines ideology as "systems of thought and explanations that underlie many forms of social and individual behaviour." 2 Categorically, some definitions describe the notion of ideology in economic and political terms, 3 while others are centered on the purpose of ideology -which includes providing a means of understanding reality, reinforcing existing ideologies, and promoting particular vested interests 4 . While these definitions are all valid, they are premised on the foundational definition of ideology as a system of interrelated thoughts and ideas.