Dominant ideology
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{{Marxist theory}}
The '''dominant ideology''', in [[Marxist]] or [[marxian]] theory, is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, [[Framing (social sciences)|framing]] how the majority think about a range of topics, The dominant ideology is understood in Marxism to reflect, or serve, the [[interest]]s of the dominant [[social class|class]] in that society - if the dominant ideology conflicted with the [[legitimacy]] 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 [[occupation]]. This theory is summarized in the slogan: ''The dominant ideology is the ideology of the dominant class''.
One way to understand marxist revolutionary [[praxis]] 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 [[capitalism]], the [[bourgeoisie]]. The ideology of the [[working class]] has to achieve dominance, in order for the working class to become the dominant class.
==Two versions==
There are two distinct, rival [[conceptual model|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:
===Top down===
In the first model, ideology is constructed in a more or less deliberate fashion by bourgeois or [[petit_bourgeoisie|petit-bourgeois]] intellectuals. Since the bourgeoisie owns the [[Mass media|media]], 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 [[exploitation]] (sometimes termed [[false consciousness]]) and loses its political [[independence]] as a class.
===Bottom up===
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 [[newspaper]] is determined not by the prejudices of the relevant [[media mogul]], but by the social [[narrative]] to which both proprietor and reader contribute. Workers in this model are not [[passive]] 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 consciousness]]''".
==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 [[revolution]]s of the 17th and 18th centuries occurred because the [[bourgeoisie]] had become the standard-bearer for social progress, the [[universal class]]. 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 [[admixture]] of socially [[Progressivism|progressive]] and [[reactionary|regressive]] 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]].
[[Vulgar]] 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]]
*[[False Consciousness]]
[[Category: Marxist theory]]