The
dominant ideology, in Marxist theory, is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society,
framingA frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation—that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, a person has, through his lifetime, built a series of mental emotional filters. They use these filters...
how the majority think about a range of topics. The dominant ideology is understood in Marxism to reflect, or serve, the
interestInterest is a fee paid on borrowed assets. It is the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or, money earned by deposited funds. Assets that are sometimes lent with interest include money, shares, consumer goods through hire purchase, major assets such as aircraft, and even entire factories in...
s of the dominant
classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
in that society - if the dominant ideology conflicted with the
legitimacyLegitimacy, from the Latin word legitimare , may refer to:* Legitimacy * Legitimacy of standards* Legitimacy * Legitimate expectation* Legitimate peripheral participation* Legitimate theater* Legitimation...
of the dominant class's rule, then society would have to be in a state of war with itself, with the dominant class appearing as an illegitimate
occupationOccupation may refer to:In business:*Employment, a person's job or work in service of an employer*Profession, an occupation requiring specialized knowledge*Vocation, an occupation pursued more for altruistic benefit rather than for income...
.
The
dominant ideology, in Marxist theory, is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society,
framingA frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation—that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, a person has, through his lifetime, built a series of mental emotional filters. They use these filters...
how the majority think about a range of topics. The dominant ideology is understood in Marxism to reflect, or serve, the
interestInterest is a fee paid on borrowed assets. It is the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or, money earned by deposited funds. Assets that are sometimes lent with interest include money, shares, consumer goods through hire purchase, major assets such as aircraft, and even entire factories in...
s of the dominant
classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
in that society - if the dominant ideology conflicted with the
legitimacyLegitimacy, from the Latin word legitimare , may refer to:* Legitimacy * Legitimacy of standards* Legitimacy * Legitimate expectation* Legitimate peripheral participation* Legitimate theater* Legitimation...
of the dominant class's rule, then society would have to be in a state of war with itself, with the dominant class appearing as an illegitimate
occupationOccupation may refer to:In business:*Employment, a person's job or work in service of an employer*Profession, an occupation requiring specialized knowledge*Vocation, an occupation pursued more for altruistic benefit rather than for income...
. This theory is summarized in the slogan:
The dominant ideology is the ideology of the dominant class.
One way to understand Marxist revolutionary
praxisPraxis may refer to:In education:* Praxis test, a teacher certification exam* Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophyIn entertainment:* Praxis , a Bill Laswell musical project...
is that it seeks to achieve just that situation of social unrest in which the ruling class is seen as illegitimate - a necessary precursor to achieving the aim of overthrowing the dominant class of
capitalismCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
, the
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
. The ideology of the
working classWorking class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
has to achieve dominance, in order for the working class to become the dominant class.
Two versions
There are two distinct, rival models offered by Marxists to characterize the operations of the dominant ideology. However, neither of these models excludes the other, but each simply considers the other less relevant. A crude summary of both models follows:
Intentional
In the first model, ideology is constructed in a more or less deliberate fashion by bourgeois or petit-bourgeois intellectuals. Since the bourgeoisie owns the
mediaMass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such...
, it can select which ideas are represented there, and selects just those ideas which serve its own interests.
The working class is overwhelmed by the barrage of bourgeois ideas, since it owns no media of its own, and perhaps because it lacks intellectuals of its own. It adopts a bourgeois outlook on its own
exploitationThe term "exploitation" may carry two distinct meanings:# The act of using something for any purpose. In this case, exploit is a synonym for use.# The act of using something in an unjust or cruel manner...
(sometimes termed
false consciousness{| align="right" | |}False consciousness is the Marxist thesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society are misleading to the proletariat, and to other classes...
) and loses its political
independenceIndependence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty....
as a class.
Spontaneous
In the second model, ideology emerges spontaneously at every level of society, and simply expresses the existing material structure of that society. Members of every class construct their own understanding of the society, based on their personal experiences. Since those experiences are primarily of capitalist social relations, their ideology tends to reflect the norms of capitalist society. Here the content of, for example, a
newspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
is determined not by the prejudices of the relevant media mogul, but by the social
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
to which both proprietor and reader contribute. Workers in this model are not
passivePassive is the opposite of active. It has several specific meanings:* Passive voice of a verb* Passivation is the formation of a non-reactive surface film that inhibits further corrosion of a metal* Passive language, a kind of metalanguage...
victims of brainwashing.
The working class begins to experience and express a different type of social relation, one that challenges the legitimacy of capitalism, with the birth of trade unions. Workers gradually achieve successes by taking a collective approach to their individual problems. This new material structure in capitalist society forms the base of a new ideology, one which expresses the interests of workers and which is contradictory to the dominant ideology. Certain Marxists term this phenomenon "
embryonic class consciousnessClass consciousness is consciousness of one's social class or economic rank in society. From the perspective of Marxist theory, it refers to the self-awareness, or lack thereof, of a particular class; its capacity to act in its own rational interests; or its awareness of the historical tasks...
".
Critical note
In Marxist theory, a particular class comes to dominate society when that class is a progressive force powerful enough to overthrow the previous ruling class. For example, the great bourgeois
revolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
s of the 17th and 18th centuries occurred because the
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
had become the standard-bearer for social progress, the
universal classUniversal class is a category derived from the philosophy of Hegel, redefined and popularized by Karl Marx. In Marxism it denotes that class of people within a stratified society for which, at a given point in history, self interested action coincides with the needs of humanity as a...
. The bourgeoisie gradually began to lose its progressive character and became increasingly reactionary once it came to power (since it began to support the status quo rather than seek further social progress). As a consequence, the dominant ideology may contain an
admixtureAdmixture can refer to:* Genetic admixture, the result of interbreeding between two or more previously isolated populations within a species.* Racial admixture, admixture between humans, also referred to as Miscegenation* Hybrid...
of socially
progressiveProgressivism is a political and social term for ideologies and movements favoring or advocating changes or reform, usually in a statist or egalitarian direction for economic policies and liberal direction for social policies...
and
regressiveReactionary refers to any political or social movement or ideology that seeks a return to a previous state . The term originated in the French Revolution, to denote the counter-revolutionaries who wanted to restore the real or imagined conditions of the monarchical Ancien Régime...
elements. Therefore, Marxists do not reject everything and anything related to the dominant ideology of capitalism; rather, they agree with its progressive elements and criticise its regressive elements. In other words, Marxist critiques of the dominant ideology of capitalism are not normally crude rejections of their content, but rather of their limiting, capitalist form.
VulgarVulgar is the fourth studio album released by Dir en grey on September 10, 2003 in Japan and on February 21, 2006 in Europe. A limited edition containing an additional DVD was also released. It featured the video of the song "Obscure", albeit a censored version...
versions of such marxian critiques, in which both form and content of bourgeois rights are devalued, have been deployed by repressive states to justify denying their citizens basic human freedoms. It is a matter of controversy between Marxists and their critics whether such outcomes are necessitated by the theory, or are rather perversions of the theory.
See also
- Conventional wisdom
Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field...
- False Consciousness
{| align="right" | |}False consciousness is the Marxist thesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society are misleading to the proletariat, and to other classes...
- Tui (intellectual)
A Tui is an intellectual who sells his or her abilities and opinions as a commodity in the marketplace or who uses them to support the dominant ideology of an oppressive society...
- Framing (social sciences)
A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation—that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, a person has, through his lifetime, built a series of mental emotional filters. They use these filters...