Ideology: History of the Concept
The concept of ideology is a highly contested notion and there is no general consensus today about how best to define the term. In the work of some authors, ‘ideology’ is used in a general way to describe sets of values and beliefs which guide political action; one could describe the values and beliefs which underpin political parties as ‘ideologies’ in this sense. In the work of other authors, however, ‘ideology’ is used in a more critical way to refer to ideas or symbolic forms which in some way distort or misrepresent the social world, or which serve the interests of some individuals or groups at the expense of others. Used in this second sense, the concept of ideology is often linked to a type of social or political analysis which adopts a critical stance towards the social world. So to study ideology, in this second sense, is also to look critically at ideology; it is not simply to describe values or beliefs but also to unmask them, to show how they misrepresent the world or how they serve dominant interests.
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2. In what ways has ‘everyday life’ been ‘colonized by capitalism’? How has capitalism come “to dominate the cultural and social world as well as the economic” (Elden, p. 110)? Consideration should be given to consumerism or our attitudes towards time/work discipline.