Critical Method
Ideological Criticism
Ideological criticism operates under the pretense that rhetoric can construct and deconstruct beliefs and belief systems – or ideologies. While individuals can certainly generate and abide by his or her own private set of beliefs, ideologies understood and employed in the rhetoric often refers to its public and collective manifestation. Foss defines ideology as “a pattern of beliefs that determines a group’s interpretations of some aspect[s] of the world” (2009, p. 209). Ideologies are then serve as a mental framework consisting of “the language, concepts, categories, imagery of thought, and the systems of representation” that is used to make sense of or makes judgements about contextual issues (e.g. abortion, warfare, diet, fame) that ultimately reflect a group’s
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righteousness, scientific advancement, good health, social mobility). Therefore formal ideologies can be easily understood as recognized religions, political leanings, or established philosophies like Christianity, Islam, capitalism, socialism, Darwinism, and feminism to name a few – while informal ideologies are more context specific and not as universally applicable or established as formal ideologies like the American Dream, No Child Left Behind, or “first come, first serve” (Foss, 2009, p. 209).
Foss goes on to explain that multiple ideologies can co-exist within any given culture, but the privileging of some ideologies over another results in a phenomenon called hegemony. The consideration of hegemony is what makes ideological analysis critical - as it employs a Marxist flavor in confronting how the ideologies of the dominant group prevails over the ideologies of groups with less power. Hegemony fosters social control as the dominant group determines the dominant ideologies of a culture that
Domination politics is based on the belief of meritocracy. Meritocracy is the belief that a culture already provides the?dream yet to come true (pg. 11). Everyone in this politic is thought to have equal access to success or failure in their own society and therefore, a belief of superiority emerges among the rich, white, Christian, heterosexual, and able-bodied men. Domination politics survives so strongly because it thrives on economic injustice, oppression and moral insolvency.
According to Brenda Allen in the chapter “Power Matters,” she mentions that there dominant ideologies of identity that “reflect perspectives and experiences of ruling groups, whose members construct and circulate beliefs that will most benefit them.” We live in a country where there are dominant ideologies of organizational hierarchy, which “arranges job positions in a stratified structure, with power flowing from the top down.” This exemplifies the ideology of domination, which is a belief system in America that the “superior should rule over the inferior” (32). This ideology is so embedded into our system that most people believe it is natural. The American society we live in values patriarchy, white supremacy, heteronormativity, and a specific culture of wealth and poverty; any identity that falls outside of these dominant ideologies is marginalized and placed in the lower strata of social power.
Ideology is created by the double-movement of idealization and desire. The model, the idealized Capitalist figure for the self, creates its own ideological structure as a means to selfing, as an objectified desired on the official apparatus of the communication and creation of Capitalist ideology, the television screen:
In The Prison Notebooks (1971) Gramsci does not associate hegemony with the governance of a solitary individual or any structuralist energy phenomena, such as a discourse, collective conscience, deep structure or culture. Instead, hegemony from a Gramscian perspective signifies a variety of different organizations of people and agents in state formations, such as a structure, a practice, an apparatus, a unity of opposing structures or a function of leadership (Gramsci, 1971). Hegemony is always considered to be a process (Gramsci, 1971). In other contexts, hegemony may refer to a level or moment, which is equal to an evolutionary stage of leadership. Hegemony also may refer to a social grouping related to a particular social, political, cultural,
Americans have embraced debate since before we were a country. The idea that we would provide reasoned support for any position that we took is what made us different from the English king. Our love of debate came from the old country, and embedded itself in our culture as a defining value. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the affinity for debate is still strong, and finds itself as a regular feature of the mainstream media. However, if Deborah Tannen of the New York Times is correct, our understanding of what it means to argue may be very different from what it once was; a “culture of critique” has developed within our media, and it relies on the exclusive opposition of two conflicting positions (Tannen). In her 1994 editorial, titled “The Triumph of the Yell”, Tannen claims that journalists, politicians and academics treat public discourse as an argument. Furthermore, she attempts to persuade her readers that this posturing of argument as a conflict leads to a battle, not a debate, and that we would be able to communicate the truth if this culture were not interfering. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies that Tannen utilizes, outline the support given in her editorial, and why her argument is less convincing than it should be.
Gramsci conceived of hegemony when he was imprisoned by Mussolini’s Fascist regime. He was interested in understanding how a state could remain in power and maintain its control even when so many people were oppressed by it. Gramsci developed his concept of hegemony to understand how forces of power can lead people in the lower class to maintain the status quo rather than rebel against it even in the face of oppression. He maintained that control does not always happen through violence or political and economic coercion but also through ideology. He states that hegemony is the “political leadership...consent in the life and activities of the state and civil society” (Gramsci SPN Q10,I§12). In this sense, Hegemony is defined as, “the ‘spontaneous’ consent given by the great masses of the population to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant fundamental group” (Lears 1985: 568).
Ideology is defined as the representation of the imaginary relationship of the individuals to the real conditions of their existence. This creates an air of false consciousness that conceals the truth, controls class conflicts, and maintains the status quo. Ideological State Apparatuses, the institutions in which ideology operates, imposes onto individuals a designated role, or forme, and restricts their ability to transcend those objective roles. Since humans cannot recognize themselves outside of their assigned ideologies, they must acquire their identities by seeing themselves through the perception of others. (Althusser ISA's)
Before we ask ourselves why ideology has become such an important concept in the modern age, let’s first see how different authors in different times have defined ideology. I combined the most thoughtful and influential definitions that circulate within the social sciences in the postwar decades. All these definitions have revealed the extent to which ideology remains a very flexible conceptual tool. To some of the authors, ideology is dogmatic, while the others say it carries connotations of political experience. Others think its basis is of concrete interests of a social class while others say it is a characteristic of an absence of economic interests. In the book titled “The Authoritarian Personality”, ideology has been defined as an organization of attitudes, opinions and values. It is a way of thinking about people and their society with respect to the different areas of social life: economics, politics, minority groups, religion and so forth (Adorno, 1950). Loewenstein also defined ideology as a consistent integrated patterns of belief and thoughts that explains man’s
Our spiritual journey starts in our childhood when religion is introduced. In many cases, our spirituality is introduced not only in our childhood but can also be discovered in adulthood. Ideology is a way of thinking that reflects the social needs and political doctrines of an individual or group. There are many different people and different circumstances that results in a variety of different ways of thinking, values and beliefs.
Powercube.net. 2014. Hegemony and invisible power | Understanding power for social change | powercube.net | IDS at Sussex University. [online] Available at: http://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/hegemony-and-invisible-power/ [Accessed: 23 Mar 2014].
A mere question is how Tannen pulls the reader into her article titled “The Argument Culture.” Deborah Tannen uses multiple rhetorical devices such as language, logos, and imagery to explain in depth the “adversarial mindset” plaguing America and shows us her solution in the article “The Argument Culture”. Tannen wanted to inform Americans how argument based we truly are and persuade us to make change. Like I stated earlier Tannen begins this process by placing a question in our minds, “Balance. Debate. Listening to both sides. Who could question these Noble American traditions” (Tannen 403)? Tannen then structures her article to develop understanding of the concept among the uninformed. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos also play a key role in the description of the culture, but Tannen adds in real life examples and imagery to create mental
Ideology is also assumed to be a way of social reality hiding which means a disclosure in the most definitions found in many dictionaries of Philosophy. Moreover it tries to represent a fraud world, imposing a dominant social class point of view to the lower classes. From Ricoeur's point of view, it is possible to realize this is a narrow view which stresses only the negative side of the discussion.
To conquer and to invade the privacy, freedom, and liberty of one country or state is inexcusable and groundless. Irredentist movements are never justified. Irredentism is the advocating annexation of states and territories done by another state on the grounds of shared culture or previous historical possession. Such movements are the roots of all conflict and calamity. It is extremely intolerable to lose complete independence, recourses, and the ability to defend rights.
Ideology is a set of ideas held by an individual or group to shape their common values, beliefs and expectations of the world around them. Media uses ideology is develop an order in which the nature of the world can be developed.
Moreover, Fairclough has highlighted the fact that language is highly manipulative in nature as it is used as an agent of hegemony. By hegemony, the sub-ordinate class is made to think that the dominant group has all the rights to rule over them and to deal them as per their choice and interests. Such mindset is shaped by using several ideological means. Gramsci (1996) opines that the ruling