Ideology - Blog Tasks

 Part 1: BBC Question Time analysis

Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people than usual watching and reacting on social media.

1) What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

• For immigration vs Against immigration
• Hate for Nigel Farage vs Love for Nigel Farage.

2) What ideologies are on display in this clip?

• Conservative, Liberal, Socialist, Immigration restriction, Social welfare

Part 2: Media Magazine reading

Media Magazine issue 52 has two good articles on Ideology. You need to read those articles (Media Magazine archive) and complete a few short tasks linked to them. 

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

• Mockingjay can be seen as satirical commentary on our own capitalist society with satirical comments on media power, subversion and resistance.

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?

• The Hunger Games addresses the late Marxist concept of late-stage capitalism or multi-nationality by criticising reality shows and their extreme enjoyment.

3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?

• The hunger games films show how much media can be used to shape and influence the ideological beliefs of people as the hunger games is a massively televised event in the world of Panem in order to control the populace using fear tactics by displaying the deaths of the children sent to the hunger games every year and by showing videos of people who tried to resist being brutally tortured or killed.

Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?

• People should put their families first.
• People should work hard for their money.
• Women should behave in feminine ways, and look after their appearance.
• Good should overcome evil.

2) What does Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggest about power and ideology in society?

• Hegemony is the ability of the dominant class to project its own worldview onto those under its control (the masses), leading them to accept it as "natural" and "common sense." Hegemony, according to Gramsci, is a significant means by which the powerful preserve their hold on power without resorting to force. He argued that rather than coming from military might or terror, the power of ideology comes mostly from ideas and institutions that uphold and hence serve the interests of an elite social group that can rule through ideas.

3) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?

• According to Althusser, ideology possesses the greatest amount of material power and governs our daily lives through two main mechanisms: "Ideological State Apparatuses" (ISAs), which include the Church, the media, educational institutions, the family unit, and others, and "Repressive State Control," also known as "Repressive State Apparatuses" (RSAs), which are the major institutions of society that are dominated by the ruling elite and that regulate social behaviour and repress the masses through violence, punitive law, and fear. Rather than using terror, these laxer institutions subtly govern and dominate through acceptance of "common sense" and societal norms. The ideology of consumerism is intimately associated with the prevalent social norms and values in the West, which emphasise the significance of the individual and self-fulfillment.

4) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!

• I acknowledge that ideology and hegemony play a significant role in our daily lives, especially when it comes to the media we consume, but I also think that there is an increasing amount of choice in today's modern, digital media landscape when it comes to consuming various media types with various messages. This doesn't mean I fully subscribe to the ideas of a liberal pluralist, as there are definitely capitalist messages pushed through mainstream media by the elite today, which is what allows it to be mainstream in the first place, but audience members are much more active participants than they were during the time of Gramsci and Althusser.