In Marxist theory, the dominant ideology denotes the values, beliefs, and mores shared by the majority of the people in a given society; the dominant ideology frames decides how the majority of the population think about the nature of their society, and so serves the interests of the ruling class. Hence the slogan: The dominant ideology is the ideology of the dominant class summarises its function as a revolutionary basis. In a capitalist, bourgeois society, Marxist revolutionary praxis seeks to achieve the social and political circumstances that will render the ruling class as politically illegitimate, as such, it is requisite for the successful deposition of the capitalist system of production. Then, the ideology of the working class will achieve and establish social, political, and economic dominance, so that the proletariat (the urban working class and the peasantry) can assume power (political and economic) as the dominant class of the society.
In non-Marxist theory, the dominant ideology means the values, beliefs, and mores shared by the social majority, which frames how most of the populace think about their society, and so, to the extent that it does, it may serve the interests of the ruling class; therefore, the extent to which a dominant ideology effectively dominates collective societal thought has declined during the modern era.
Famous quotes containing the words dominant and/or ideology:
“When every autumn people said it could not last through the winter, and when every spring there was still no end in sight, only the hope that out of it all some good would accrue to mankind kept men and nations fighting. When at last it was over, the war had many diverse results and one dominant one transcending all others: disillusion.”
—Barbara Tuchman (1912–1989)
“There is no religion in which everyday life is not considered a prison; there is no philosophy or ideology that does not think that we live in alienation.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)