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IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE (Continued):Political ideologies, Economic Ideology

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Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ­ SOC401
VU
Lesson 31
IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE (Continued)
Political ideologies
In social studies, a political ideology is a set of ideas and principles that explain how the society should
work, and offer the blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how
to allocate power and to what ends it should be used.
For example, one of the most influential and well-defined political ideologies of the 20th century was
communism, based on the original formulations of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Communism is a term
that can refer to one of several things: a certain social system, an ideology which supports that system, or a
political movement that wishes to implement that system.
As a social system, communism is a type of egalitarian society with no state, no private property and no
social classes. In communism, all property is owned by the community as a whole, and all people enjoy
equal social and economic status. Perhaps the best known principle of a communist society is "From each
according to his ability, to each according to his need".
As an ideology, communism is synonymous for Marxism and its various derivatives (most notably
Marxism-Leninism). Among other things, Marxism claims that human society has gone through
various stages of development throughout its history, and that capitalism is the current stage we are
going through. The next stage will be socialism, and the one after that will be communism.
Therefore, it should be noted that communists do not seek to establish communism right away;
they seek to establish socialism first, which is to be followed by communism at some point in the
future.
Other examples of ideologies include: anarchism, capitalism, corporate liberalism, fascism, monarchism,
nationalism, fascism, conservativism and social-democracy.
Economic Ideology
Karl Marx proposed a base/superstructure model of society. The base refers to the means of production of
society. The superstructure is formed on top of the base, and comprises that society's ideology, as well as its
legal system, political system, and religions.
Marx proposed that the base determines the superstructure. It is the ruling class that controls the society's
means of production - and thus the superstructure of society, including its ideology, will be determined
according to what is in the ruling class' best interests. On the other hand, critics of the Marxist approach
feel that it attributes too much importance to economic factors in influencing society.
This is far from the only theory of economics to be raised to ideology status - some notable economically-
based ideologies include mercantilism, Social Darwinism, communism, laissez-faire economics, and "free
trade".
There are also current theories of safe trade and fair trade calling for a revision in terms of trade which can
be seen as ideologies. These ideologies call for a revision of rules based on which trade between developed
and developing countries takes place.
Interaction between Legal and Economic Ideologies
Ideologies often interact with, and influence, each other in the real world. Consider for example, the
statement 'All are equal before the law', which is a theory behind current legal systems, suggests that all
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Introduction to Cultural Anthropology ­ SOC401
VU
people may be of equal worth or have equal 'opportunities'. This is not true, because the concept of private
property over the means of production results in some people being able to own more (much more) than
others, and their property brings power and influence (the rich can afford better lawyers, among other
things, and this puts in question the principle of equality before the law).
Useful Terms
Fair trade ­ the notion that all countries should be given a fair price for the products they export through
international trade
Terms of trade ­ the price which products of different countries fetch in international trade
Means of production ­ these include land, labor, capital investments required to produce something.
Inevitable - unavoidable
Synonymous ­ another term carrying the same meaning
Suggested Readings
Please visit the following web-site for this lecture, which provide useful and interesting information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology
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Table of Contents:
  1. WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?:Cultural Anthropology, Internet Resources
  2. THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE AND THE APPLICATION OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
  3. MAJOR THEORIES IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Diffusionism
  4. GROWTH OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY (continued):Post Modernism
  5. METHODS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Comments on Fieldwork
  6. METHODS IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY (continued):Census Taking
  7. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD
  8. ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY (continued):THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES
  9. FOCUSING ON LANGUAGE:Languages of the World, Structure of Language
  10. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (continued):Levels of Complexity, Cultural Emphasis
  11. OBTAINING FOOD IN DIFFERENT CULTURES:Optimal Foraging, Suggested Readings
  12. FOOD AND CULTURE (continued):Food Collectors, Food Production
  13. OBTAINING FOOD IN DIFFERENT CULTURE (continued):Pastoralism, Agriculture
  14. RELEVANCE OF KINSHIP AND DESCENT:Kinship Criteria, Rules of Descent
  15. KINSHIP AND DESCENT (continued):Tracing Descent, Primary Kinship Systems
  16. THE ROLE OF FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN CULTURE:Economic Aspect of Marriage
  17. ROLE OF FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN CULTURE (continued):Family Structures
  18. GENDER AND CULTURE:Gender Stratification, Suggested Readings
  19. GENDER ROLES IN CULTURE (continued):Women Employment, Feminization of Poverty
  20. STRATIFICATION AND CULTURE:Social Ranking, Dimensions of Inequality
  21. THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION (continued):The Functionalists, Conflict Theorists
  22. CULTURE AND CHANGE:Inventions, Diffusion, Donor, Conventional
  23. CULTURE AND CHANGE (continued):Cultural Interrelations, Reaction to Change
  24. CULTURE AND CHANGE (continued):Planned Change, Globalization
  25. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION:Bands, Tribal Organizations, Chiefdoms
  26. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued):State Systems, Nation-States
  27. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (continued):Social Norms, Informal Mechanisms
  28. PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE:Emotional Development, Psychological Universals
  29. PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE (continued):Origin of Customs, Personality Types
  30. IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE:Ideology in Everyday Life, Hegemony
  31. IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE (Continued):Political ideologies, Economic Ideology
  32. ASSOCIATIONS, CULTURES AND SOCIETIES:Variation in Associations, Age Sets
  33. ASSOCIATIONS, CULTURES AND SOCIETIES (continued):Formation of Associations
  34. RACE, ETHNICITY AND CULTURE:Similarity in Human Adaptations
  35. RACE, ETHNICITY AND CULTURE (continued):Inter-group Relations
  36. CULTURE AND BELIEFS:Social Function of Religion, Politics and Beliefs
  37. LOCAL OR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE:Changing Definitions of Local Knowledge
  38. LOCAL OR INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE (continued):The Need for Caution
  39. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT:Influence of Development Notions
  40. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (Continued):Contentions in Development
  41. ANTHROPOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (Continued):Operational
  42. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ART:Relevance of Art, Art and Politics
  43. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ART (continued):Art as a Status Symbol
  44. ETHICS IN ANTHROPOLOGY:Ethical Condemnation, Orientalism
  45. RELEVANCE OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:Ensuring Cultural Survival