Ideology

The term ideology has many incompatible meanings. Some theorists such as Rorty and Foucault propose to discard this term completely or replace it with "discourse-power relationship". Habermas claims that ideology has been replaced by "technology" and that late capitalism now operates "by itself" without the need for any discursive justification. Baudrillard, who says, "The problem is not the wrong representation (ideology) of reality, but that the real is no longer real" and argues that social life is destroyed by a heavy bleeding of meaning, expresses a nihilist variant of this view. In this very period, in the "real" world, such as nationalism and religious fundamentalism Pointing out that ideologies are being reconstructed (that is, there is still something "wrong" and "meaningful" out there), Eagleton questions in this book how reasonable it can be to give up the concept of ideology altogether. In an extremely clear language and with humorous examples from daily life, he conveys the views of almost everyone who has thought about the concept of ideology, from the Enlightenment to Postmodernism, from Marx to Laclau and Mouffe. He not only conveys the information, but also engages in a productive dialogue with them and, at times, polemics. In fact, the entire book can be viewed as an exciting and challenging polemic developed by a "heterodox" Marxist against postmodernist and postmarxist thinkers. Starting from the fact that "ideology" really has many meanings, Eagleton's aim is not to synthesize them and reach a single and sufficient definition of ideology; According to him, this is neither possible nor useful. From the sixteen definitions of ideology he presents at the beginning of the text, he deduces two main traditions: On the one hand, the "epistemological" tradition, which deals with the idea of knowing right and wrong, and ideology in the sense of illusion, distortion and mystification, and on the other hand, the "sociological" tradition, which deals with the social function of ideas. Eagleton argues that left radicalism should embrace both of these traditions, of course, while being aware of their limitations. He says that a "criticism of ideology" that is fair or not, but questions it from within, cannot be abandoned. Unlike postmodernists, who reject any implications of the concept of "false consciousness", radicalism cannot avoid identifying and combating certain "errors" systematically produced by the current social order. The fundamental mistake is to prevent the full implementation of the creative powers that humanity has developed historically. This judgment itself is made from the point of view of a possible and desirable future (Utopia), and the outline of this future potentially exists today. In other words, it is not identical with itself today. No social order can fully absorb human energies, and no "dominant" ideology is as "pure" and unifying as it is thought. It is recommended not only for those interested in the dilemmas of postmodern thought, but also for everyone who really wants to "know" what they oppose and why.



Number of Pages: 308

Year of Printing: 2015


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Details Publications

First Printing Year: 2011

Number of Pages: 308

Language Turkish