What is an Ideology (Essay Sample)

What is an ideology?
An ideology may be considered as important as the heart of the society in the interpretation of cultural system. It is one of the minor ironies of advanced intellectual history that the notion of ‘ideology’ has itself become comprehensively ideologized. Considering the anthropological notion of culture, in which Clifford Geertz (2000) has been both prominent advocate and influential definer, has played a significant role in present historiography and social discipline. In the same sense, concerning the study and interpretation of cultural system in the society, "the study of ideology deals with a mode of thinking which is thrown off its proper use" (Clifford Geertz, 2000). The notion of ideology has contended crude sociological reductionism and prompted a concern for close perspective reading of cultural phenomena constructed on the analogy of scripts. Concerning the issue of interpretation of cultures with regards to ideology as cultural systems, several researchers have applied their general notion of culture to the particular concept of ideology since this may leads the society to something beneficial, not like in the liberal democratic humanity, where everybody is for himself. Considering the German ideology perspective as noted by Marx et al. (2011), ideology encompasses example on how to lead and educate the humanity, otherwise the humanity will split and will not be in a position to deal amicably with all global issues like the cultural interpretation that it has. The need to fully understand the importance of ideology is inevitable, because without ideas that can help address the issue of cultural interpretation, our future is empty and dark. Ideology is one of the most commonly used terms in political science as envisaged by Clifford Geertz (2000) on the concept of German ideologies and as a result, ideology found its way in several political debates in which politicians and the "common man on the street" liked the word ideology.
Whenever the notion of ideology is applied by anyone, it always carries a ring of accusation accompanied by a possible slander. It is therefore one of the terminology that almost everybody is happy to use but when interrogated what it really stands for will come up with vague answers or perspectives that seem to be very different or even contradictory to the thoughts expressed by the next person, and as a result, "The problem of ideology arises where there is discrepancy between what is believed and what can be established as scientifically correct." (Clifford Geertz, 2000).
Ideology may be termed as a belief or sets of beliefs, particularly the political perspectives on which people, parties, or nations base their considerations. In addition, quite a number of concepts play an important role in the present day discussions of historical and political issues than does that of ideology, and yet it is not normally clear what meaning is applied to the notion of ideology by those who employ it (Marx et al., 2011). Even in situations when one confines ones attention to the perspectives of sociologists and historians, not considering an account of terminological misuse apparently inseparable from ordinary political discourse, it is evident that various and conflicting notions are intended by writers who casually refer to the concept of ideology as a political movement, hence the notion of ideology is most commonly applied in social sciences. In several circumstances, the concept of ideology can be applied to a wide variety of moving ideas in the current situation. Ideologies are conditioned and are perceived to be determined by the geographical and climatic condition, habitual operations and cultural environment of the concerned groups.
Depending on the policies of a concerned nation, an ideology may be imposed upon the citizens forcibly or by a technique of propaganda. The major ideologies in the modern world are democracy in which the nation functions to go by the will of its citizens and totalitarianism, in which the citizens are subordinated to the nation. In a democratic nation, the notion of ideology is exercised actively on the political platforms. Some political platforms are regarded to be more ideological than others. Therefore, the concept of political ideology implies a common and a wide-ranging philosophy encompassing convictions on what ultimate issues are most worth accomplishing, the fundamental characteristics of human life and politics, and the proper connections of means to ends, hence "the assumption that politics should be conducted from the standpoint of a coherent, comprehensive set of beliefs must override every other consideration." (Marx et al., 2011) In addition, since an individual may belong to more than one group, it is ideally possible for him to contain conflicting ideologies as Clifford Geertz (2000) observed. Hence, an individual may hold to a religious slogan in the brotherhood of man and at ...