Importance of Ideology

What does ideology mean? Its importance to human life.- The term ideology refers to a set of ideas, notions or abstract concepts that are related to each other regarding a particular subject and that apply to how human beings understand the life that touches them, in the period and historical context that they live. The word ideology comes precisely from the fact that it combines ideas that have points in common and that allow us to elaborate something more complex and comprehensive since they all intertwine to explain certain phenomena humans.

Ideology is central to human life since it is what differentiates us from the rest of the animals by being able to understand life from a theoretical point of view and not just a practical one. Ideology gives us a possible explanation about facts or situations and also allows us to form an opinion since it represents a position.

Ideology in politics: fundamental axis of human political life

The concept of ideology is mainly related to the field of politics. Although there are economic ideologies and many other types, the reality is that this term is applied especially to political activity, which for many is all that the government does.

human being. We can speak of the beginning of ideology in the form in which we know it today only after the 19th century and in the last parts of the 18th century. This is linked to the political achievements of revolutionaries from different parts of Europe who began to defend political positions against the abuse of monarchies.

Throughout the 19th century we will find different ideologies such as the liberalism, he nationalism, socialism, anarchism that will have different ways of understanding the world and will also give prominence to different social actors. Political ideology has been, in this sense, extremely important in generating social movements and politicians who are today the basis of our current political system.

The death of ideology, is this a real phenomenon?

While the ideology and the opposition of ideological systems such as communism or the capitalism was what characterized much of the 20th century in the West, the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 meant for many thinkers and political philosophers the end of ideology. This was so because the capitalist and liberal position that gives freedoms to the market to function without ties and removes value or power from the State as the center of political functions collective.

This supposed death of ideology heralded a world liberated from these issues, which are in many cases obstacles to progress for those who defend capitalism. However, many thinkers on the opposite side argue that believing in the end of ideology is a mistake because that the human being is a political being and will always be moved by ideologies, although these may be more or less clear.

Images: iStock. ozgurdonmaz / skynesher