In the “Ideology and Ideologies” chapter, Ball and Dagger observe the matters that are related to ideology including the very notion of ideology, the power behind it, and its functions. In the following paper, their argument regarding ideology will be addressed in detail.
First of all, speaking about the definition of ideology from the point of view of the chapter under consideration, it should be stated that it is a complex of ideas, which tend to affect people’s minds and encourage them to act in a particular way. According to Ball and Dagger (2002, p. 3), “ideologies are sets of ideas that shape people’s thinking about race, nationality, the role and function of government, the relations between men and women, human responsibility for the natural environment, and many other matters”.
Ideologies are a strong stimulus of human behavior as they shape people’s way of thinking, values, dreams, and even entire human lives. For example, the ideology, narrated in The Turner Diaries book, caused the forthcoming of a variety of skinhead organizations, militia groups, and Nazism. This ideology vindicated “The Great One” or Hitler, and predated the emergence of one of the most terrible phenomena in human history – the genocide (Ball & Dagger, 2002). Generally, the authors of the chapter under consideration offer the following definition of ideology: “an ideology is a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that explains and evaluates social conditions, helps people understand their place in society, and provides a program for social and political action” (Ball & Dagger, 2002, p. 5).
Next, the four main functions of ideology are to be addressed. Ball and Dagger describe the first function of ideology as explaining social, political, and economic conditions that people face (Ball & Dagger, 2002). To explain this function, the authors present a row of ample illustrations. For example, a Marxist ideology defines “wars as an outgrowth of capitalists’ competition for foreign markets”, and a Fascist one interprets wars as “tests of one’s national ‘will’ against another’s” (Ball & Dagger, 2002, p. 6). Thus, it can be seen that through different ideologies, theorists aim to answer the complicated questions society asks such as (1) why people fight against each other?; (2) what causes economic problems?; (3) what stands behind national hatred?; and so on.
The second function of ideology is defined by Ball and Dagger as the evaluation of social conditions. This means that ideology helps people give an appraisal of the events that take place around them. This is different from merely explaining why things happen because if one knows the reasons for some occurrences, this does not mean that he or she can decide whether they are positive or negative. Therefore, ideology is intended to assess the developments that occur in the world. To help the readers understand this more deeply, Ball and Dagger elucidate that ideology does not only answer the question of why wars happen, but it also helps people find explanations to the other important matters such as “are all wars evils to be avoided or are some morally justifiable?” (2002, p. 6).
The third function of ideology is shown by the authors as orientation. They explain this idea by saying that ideology “orients people so that they can see how they fit into society’ (Ball & Dagger, 2002, p. 17). This means that ideology assists people in developing their sense of identity or understanding who they are, what their race is, what their social position is, etc. To illustrate this, the authors mention a few examples. For instance, if an individual is a communist, he or she will like to think of oneself as a member of the working class, who strives to release the other people from the burden of capitalist exploitation; or if a person is a Nazi, he or she will believe that one’s primary objective is in enslaving people, belonging to ‘colored’ nations or even totally exterminating them.
Finally, the fourth function of ideology is in “prescribing a program for social and political action” (Ball & Dagger, 2002, p. 17). To put it simply, this means that ideology gives people directions concerning what they should do, and how exactly they should do it. For example, instructors in gyms say what people should do to lose weight or become healthier; or doctors in hospitals recommend treatment for people to recover from their diseases. In the same way, ideologists recommend people what they should do to live in particular social, economical, and political conditions.
In conclusion, it should be stated that the authors of the chapter under consideration define ideology as a set of strong ideas that affect people’s way of thinking and acting, encouraging them to have particular social, economical, and political behavior. Ideology has four main functions, which are in (1) explaining social, political, and economic conditions that people face; (2) evaluating social conditions; (3) orienting people to help them find their place in society; and (4) dictating a plan of social and political actions.
Reference
Ball, T., & Dagger, R. (2002). Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal. The United States: Arizona State University.