Ideology: a very short introduction by Michael Freeden

Author:Michael Freeden [Freeden, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Political, Philosophy, Religion, History of Ideas & Popular Philosophy, Political Science, History & Theory, History & Theory - General, Social & political philosophy, Politics & government, Current Events, Politics, Political Ideologies, Society & social sciences, Movements, Anthologies, Ideology, Ideologie., gtt, Anthologies (multiple authors), Poetry, Inspirational
ISBN: 9780192802811
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2003-02-14T23:00:00+00:00

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studying the same thing. Beginning with the conceptual structure, we may apply the notions of decontestation, family resemblances, core, adjacent, and peripheral concepts, and permeable boundaries to some of the main ideological groupings. Most modern ideologies are complex. They cannot be summarized in oversimplified generalizations such as: liberalism is about liberty; conservatism is about preserving the status quo; and so on. They all exhibit a cluster of core concepts, none of which can be maximized without some damage to the others, and consequently to the ideological profile as a whole. As noted above, the proportionality principle teaches us that, if one concept expands to fill up all available space, it will end by crushing the others or subsuming them within its domain.

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Liberalism

Liberalism consists of several core concepts, all of which are indispensable to its current manifestations. The supposition that human beings are rational; an insistence on liberty of thought and, within some limits, of action; a belief in human and social progress;

the assumption that the individual is the prime social unit and a unique choice maker; the postulation of sociability and human benevolence as normal; an appeal to the general interest rather than to particular loyalties; and reservations about power unless it is i

constrained and made accountable - all these are the minimum liberal kit. Superimposed on that kit is a crucial disposition: a >

critical questioning of motives and actions that introduces a : readiness to rethink one's own conceptual arrangements and t practices, and to tolerate those of others. !

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As a tradition, liberalism entertains the idea of the open-ended development of human beings towards increasingly civilized states of existence, epitomized in John Stuart Mill's writings. That development revolves around the liberty that people can practise unfettered, through not being dominated against their will, abetted by an increasing recognition and formalization of human rights. But throughout the 20th century, the idea of a fair deal to people 81

has grown within the family of liberalisms, consisting not only of These are some of the more notable milestones of the liberal equal legal protection and treatment, but the equalizing of tradition that have changed the world more than the most dramatic economic and gender opportunities and respect for multiple and of political revolutions, and have lasted far longer. The liberal diverse cultures and faiths within and across nations. H u m a n tradition has also faltered notably in a number of instances: the well-being, or welfare, have come to be principal ingredients of weakness of the Weimar Republic in 1920s Germany failed to the package of benefits that a humanist political system pledges to prevent the rise of Hitler to power; the masculinist biases of liberals its citizens.

have been slow to extend their objective of emancipation to women; and even liberalism's much valued tolerance has found it difficult to Liberalism's achievements have been quietly momentous. Its vision grapple with methods of contemporary terror without descending of

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