Updated Lecture 3 - Ideology and Race

Ideology and RaceIdeology and Race (Reference Book: O'Shaughnessy and Stadler)

n In its simplest form ; the articulation, voicing or putting forward of a point of view
n Usually part of an exchange of ideas
n It is therefore a social process of constructing meaning
n Definition; collective discussion or interplay of meanings and ideas surrounding a particular subject



n Foucault’s theory of discourse:
n Societies tend to bring together a range of voices, ideas and beliefs into overall discourses that offer ways of understanding the world (Fiske, 1987)
n Uses to examine how societies understand and make sense of sexuality, madness and criminality


n For Foucault, discourses are always linked to disciplinary power, they are a means of organising social control



n COMMON SENSE DEFINITION (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)
IDEOLOGY - IS A SET OF DELIBERATELY FORMULATED, COHERENT, RATIONAL, USUALLY POLITICL IDEAS THAT IS USED AS A WAY OF DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW SOCIETY CAN BE ORGANIZED.



n MORE USEFUL DEFINITION
IDEOLOGY IS A SET OF SOCIAL VALUES, BELIEFS, FEELINGS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN.



n Mass media play a vital role in communicating and reinforcing DOMINANT ideologies







Ideologies are often not consciously thought out

n It becomes part of our “common sense”

n It is reinforcing power relations and social structures



DOMINANT IDEOLOGY(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)

n EACH SOCIETY HAS A DOMINANT IDEOLOGY SHARED BY MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. (Althuser )

n DOMINANT IN NUMERICAL TERMS

n DOMINANT IN THE SENSE THAT IT TENDS TO SUPPORT THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMINANT, RULING GROUPS.

MECHANISMS OF IDEOLOGY(Althusser, 1977 in O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)



n REPRESSIVE STATE APPARATUSES (RSAs)
n – FORCE PEOPLE TO CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY.
n - USED DELIBERATELY, TO CONTROL, PUNISH, AND COERCE PEOPLE WHO ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM.



n IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUSES (ISAs)
n - WORK MORE LIKE HYNOPSIS, CONVINCING PEOPLE OR WINNING THEIR CONSENT TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY
n THE CHURCH, THE FAMILY, THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, THE MEDIA



Where do we find ideologies?
n 1) In language, texts and representations
n 2) Ideologies in material institutions and in our methodologies and practices.
3) In our heads and hearts




Race

n The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of dividing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of characteristics
(American Association of Physical Anthropologists).

n The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits, and self-identification.
(Michael Bamshad and Steve Olson
n "Pure races do not exist in the human species today, nor is there any evidence that they have ever existed in the past." (AAPA)


Racialization

n A form of exclusionary practice
n It is dialectical process of signification to make sense of two meanings: Self and Others.


Racism
n Presumes the existence of decisions and processes which discriminate among people and also the existence of scarcity
n Racism functions as an ideology of inclusion and exclusion

The significance of colour both includes and excludes in the process of sorting people into resulting categories

n But at the same time it also appears as a less logical assembly of stereotypes, images, attributions and explanations which are constructed and employed to negotiate everyday life




Tutorial Guide Topics

n Be able to explain the concepts: ideology, discourse, race
n In what ways do media play its role in communicating and reinforcing ideologies.
n What are your criticism of people who tend to be racists.

n In its simplest form ; the articulation, voicing or putting forward of a point of view
n Usually part of an exchange of ideas
n It is therefore a social process of constructing meaning
n Definition; collective discussion or interplay of meanings and ideas surrounding a particular subject



n Foucault’s theory of discourse:
n Societies tend to bring together a range of voices, ideas and beliefs into overall discourses that offer ways of understanding the world (Fiske, 1987)
n Uses to examine how societies understand and make sense of sexuality, madness and criminality


n For Foucault, discourses are always linked to disciplinary power, they are a means of organising social control



n COMMON SENSE DEFINITION Ideology and Race

n In its simplest form ; the articulation, voicing or putting forward of a point of view
n Usually part of an exchange of ideas
n It is therefore a social process of constructing meaning
n Definition; collective discussion or interplay of meanings and ideas surrounding a particular subject



n Foucault’s theory of discourse:
n Societies tend to bring together a range of voices, ideas and beliefs into overall discourses that offer ways of understanding the world (Fiske, 1987)
n Uses to examine how societies understand and make sense of sexuality, madness and criminality


n For Foucault, discourses are always linked to disciplinary power, they are a means of organising social control



n COMMON SENSE DEFINITION (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)
IDEOLOGY - IS A SET OF DELIBERATELY FORMULATED, COHERENT, RATIONAL, USUALLY POLITICL IDEAS THAT IS USED AS A WAY OF DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW SOCIETY CAN BE ORGANIZED.



n MORE USEFUL DEFINITION
IDEOLOGY IS A SET OF SOCIAL VALUES, BELIEFS, FEELINGS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN.



n Mass media play a vital role in communicating and reinforcing DOMINANT ideologies







Ideologies are often not consciously thought out

n It becomes part of our “common sense”

n It is reinforcing power relations and social structures



DOMINANT IDEOLOGY(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)

n EACH SOCIETY HAS A DOMINANT IDEOLOGY SHARED BY MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. (Althuser )

n DOMINANT IN NUMERICAL TERMS

n DOMINANT IN THE SENSE THAT IT TENDS TO SUPPORT THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMINANT, RULING GROUPS.

MECHANISMS OF IDEOLOGY(Althusser, 1977 in O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)



n REPRESSIVE STATE APPARATUSES (RSAs)
n – FORCE PEOPLE TO CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY.
n - USED DELIBERATELY, TO CONTROL, PUNISH, AND COERCE PEOPLE WHO ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM.



n IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUSES (ISAs)
n - WORK MORE LIKE HYNOPSIS, CONVINCING PEOPLE OR WINNING THEIR CONSENT TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY
n THE CHURCH, THE FAMILY, THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, THE MEDIA



Where do we find ideologies?
n 1) In language, texts and representations
n 2) Ideologies in material institutions and in our methodologies and practices.
3) In our heads and hearts




Race

n The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of dividing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of characteristics
(American Association of Physical Anthropologists).

n The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits, and self-identification.
(Michael Bamshad and Steve Olson
n "Pure races do not exist in the human species today, nor is there any evidence that they have ever existed in the past." (AAPA)


Racialization

n A form of exclusionary practice
n It is dialectical process of signification to make sense of two meanings: Self and Others.


Racism
n Presumes the existence of decisions and processes which discriminate among people and also the existence of scarcity
n Racism functions as an ideology of inclusion and exclusion

The significance of colour both includes and excludes in the process of sorting people into resulting categories

n But at the same time it also appears as a less logical assembly of stereotypes, images, attributions and explanations which are constructed and employed to negotiate everyday life




Tutorial Guide Topics

n Be able to explain the concepts: ideology, discourse, race
n In what ways do media play its role in communicating and reinforcing ideologies.
n What are your criticism of people who tend to be racists.


IDEOLOGY - IS A SET OF DELIBERATELY FORMULATED, COHERENT, RATIONAL, USUALLY POLITICL IDEAS THAT IS USED AS A WAY OF DEFINING AND UNDERSTANDING HOW SOCIETY CAN BE ORGANIZED.



n MORE USEFUL DEFINITION
IDEOLOGY IS A SET OF SOCIAL VALUES, BELIEFS, FEELINGS, REPRESENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS BY WHICH PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN.



n Mass media play a vital role in communicating and reinforcing DOMINANT ideologies







Ideologies are often not consciously thought out

n It becomes part of our “common sense”

n It is reinforcing power relations and social structures



DOMINANT IDEOLOGY(O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)

n EACH SOCIETY HAS A DOMINANT IDEOLOGY SHARED BY MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. (Althuser )

n DOMINANT IN NUMERICAL TERMS

n DOMINANT IN THE SENSE THAT IT TENDS TO SUPPORT THE INTERESTS OF THE DOMINANT, RULING GROUPS.

MECHANISMS OF IDEOLOGY(Althusser, 1977 in O’Shaughnessy and Stadler)



n REPRESSIVE STATE APPARATUSES (RSAs)
n – FORCE PEOPLE TO CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY.
n - USED DELIBERATELY, TO CONTROL, PUNISH, AND COERCE PEOPLE WHO ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM.



n IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUSES (ISAs)
n - WORK MORE LIKE HYNOPSIS, CONVINCING PEOPLE OR WINNING THEIR CONSENT TO THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY
n THE CHURCH, THE FAMILY, THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, THE MEDIA



Where do we find ideologies?
n 1) In language, texts and representations
n 2) Ideologies in material institutions and in our methodologies and practices.
3) In our heads and hearts




Race

n The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of dividing humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of characteristics
(American Association of Physical Anthropologists).

n The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits, and self-identification.
(Michael Bamshad and Steve Olson
n "Pure races do not exist in the human species today, nor is there any evidence that they have ever existed in the past." (AAPA)


Racialization

n A form of exclusionary practice
n It is dialectical process of signification to make sense of two meanings: Self and Others.


Racism
n Presumes the existence of decisions and processes which discriminate among people and also the existence of scarcity
n Racism functions as an ideology of inclusion and exclusion

The significance of colour both includes and excludes in the process of sorting people into resulting categories

n But at the same time it also appears as a less logical assembly of stereotypes, images, attributions and explanations which are constructed and employed to negotiate everyday life




Tutorial Guide Topics

n Be able to explain the concepts: ideology, discourse, race
n In what ways do media play its role in communicating and reinforcing ideologies.
n What are your criticism of people who tend to be racists.