Politics, conflict, and ideology

Abstract

Abstract The concept of ideology occupied a central position in political thinking during the twentieth century. Empirical political science has however increasingly marginalized ideology as both an object of study (think of the ‘end of ideology’ thesis) and an analytical category. Much of the debate has continued to take for granted the pejorative connotation of the Marxist school (ideology as false consciousness), on one side, and of pluralist approaches (ideologies as dogmatic doctrines or mentalities), on the other side. If we revisit classical accounts—as well as some less-known contemporary strands of research in the cognitive sciences and political theory—it becomes possible to provide a different, more neutral, and more general conceptualization of ideologies, understood as mental maps which contain a description of reality and a set of prescriptions about how to improve it. Ideologies provide meaning to interests (even create them) and embody themselves in institutions, of which they define the purpose and often the design. What are the features of ideology that enable them to autonomously impact on society and politics? This chapter provides a review of key debates, focusing in particular of three strands of literature: political psychology, discursive institutionalism, and the morphological theory of ideology.