Family : Marxist - Dominant Ideology

• Dominant ideology

  Marx believed the ruling or dominant ideas in any society, what he called the dominant ideology, were those of the owning class (hence it is sometimes also called ruling class ideology) and the major institutions in society reflected those ideas.
• Dominant ideology

  For example, the law protected the interests of the owning class more than it did those of the workers; religion acted as the 'opium of the people', persuading the working class to accept their position as just and natural (rather than rebelling against it), by 'drugging' them and inducing hallucinations of future rewards in heaven for putting up with their present suffering; the bourgeoisie's ownership of the media meant only their ideas were put forward.
• Ideology

  Marxists argue that socialisation is an ideological process in that its main aim is to transmit the ruling-class idea that capitalist society is meritocratic - that is, if you work hard enough, you can get on - despite the fact that the evidence rarely supports this view. This ideological device is so successful that the majority of the working class are convinced that their position in society is deserved.
• Ideology

  In other words, they are persuaded to accept their lot and may even be convinced that capitalism has provided them with a decent standard of living.

  Marxists argue that capitalist ideology shapes the way of life of a society - its culture. A good example of this, say Marxists, is the way that the mass media convince us through advertising and popular culture - television, cinema, pop music, tabloid newspapers, etc. - that our priority should be to buy more and more material goods.
• Ideology

  We want to be rich so that we can buy more consumer goods, and, somehow, this will make us happy. What is more, while we are all watching soap operas and reading the latest celebrity gossip, we fail to notice the inequalities and exploitation which are the norm in the capitalist system.

  This means that most of us are unaware of our 'real' identity as exploited and oppressed workers. We experience what Marxists describe as false class consciousness. Eventually though, Marxists believe, we will learn the real truth of our situation and rebel against the capitalist system.