The 4 types of ideology that exist, and their values

The prevailing types of ideology today they explain a good part of how we behave collectively. And it is that although it does not seem like it, in our ways of thinking there are always beliefs and perspectives that we have inherited from previous generations and that determine a good part of our actions. Simply, freethinkers do not exist.

In this article we will see what are the main types of ideology and what ideas and beliefs are based on.

• Related article: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"

The 6 types of ideology

Ideology is a system of beliefs, ideas, and feelings that guide our thinking when it comes to interpreting what the world is like and the social phenomena that occur in it. So they are cognitive schemas in which we lean to think.

Next we will review these types of ideology, but first it must be clear that these are in force today nowadays, that they have not always existed and that in the future they will mutate or even disappear to give way to other

1. Religious conservatism and far-right ideologies

Religious conservatism is characterized by making the religious beliefs of a religious group to which it belongs set the political agenda, normally aimed at making the symbols, rituals and beliefs associated with that prevail religion.

That means that in this ideology the content of sacred texts is of great importance, and that the answers to a large part of life's questions are sought in them, regardless of what reality shows us through experience.

It is common for this ideology to use terms such as "sacrilegious" or "unnatural" to define activities or habits that are considered to go against the faith, which by definition is not questioned: in fact, blind belief is rewarded without asking for the necessary tests to see if the foretold.

On the other hand, an ideology of the extreme right is one in which it is about repressing people and groups for not fitting into ideas linked to "essences". These essences can be referred to the country and the nation, on the one hand, attributing to a territory some customs, symbols and rituals, as well as frequently a religion, language and race, as well as the human condition, also pointing to a series of behaviors allegedly "unnatural".

Thus, both conservatism and its more radical far-right versions are characterized by essentialism and the identification of political and social objectives with ideas about what the correct society should look like according to arbitrary parameters and based on the supernatural.

2. Liberalism

Liberalism is a type of ideology based on individualism, that is, attention to one's own needs. On the other hand, the analyzes of society, economics and politics that are carried out from this position also place the subjectivity of oneself in a priority place. and freedom of choice, which is given more importance than economic equality.

The concept of private property is of great importance in liberalism, since it is seen practically as an extension of its own. Me. That is why the need to be able to do practically what you want with private property is defended, by as with the body itself, without being accountable to anyone, as long as this does not directly harm others individuals.

On the other hand, liberalism defends certain initiatives attending to the comings they represent and to the analysis of whether these are legitimate or not, which is why it is considered to be an idealistic ideology.

3. Socialism

Socialism is fundamentally one of the types of collectivist ideology that, unlike religious conservatism (also collectivist), are secular. That is, of detachment from any religion and rejects any initiative that has to do with regulating political and social life based on beliefs in the divine.

On the other hand, socialism clearly differs from liberalism in two fundamental respects. The first we have already seen, and that is liberalism is individualistic, while socialism is collectivist, which means that it gives great importance to social phenomena, which cannot be explained by focusing only on the actions and preferences of individuals, as if they were isolated each.

The second difference is that while liberalism is idealistic, socialism is materialistic; not in a moral sense (since socialism rejects consumerism) but philosophical: ideas do not matter, but the facts and their effects on the world. For example, from this ideology it is considered that the idea of ​​freedom does not mean anything if that freedom is given to it. to people who, due to their poverty, are forced to choose only between precarious jobs in which they will be exploited.

Furthermore, as in socialism has a historical perspective by going beyond the individual, point out several problems inherited from generation to generation, most of which have to do with the concentration of capital in a few hands and with the subjection of women to men that has occurred historically and that continues to be clearly given in many countries even today in day.

On the other hand, in this type of ideology there are two different variants: anarchism and communism.

3.1. Anarchism

Anarchism is a type of ideology based on socialism that defends the need to collectivize goods, that is, make resources exist in the hands of a minority. On the other hand, it should be noted that there are different types of anarchism (or libertarianism) and not all propose the same strategies to achieve it.

3.2. Communism

The communists, whose ideology has been greatly influenced by the ideas of philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, bet on the planned economy and the use of the state to end various forms of domination by the elites.

However, the ideological conceptions of socialism and communism should not be confused with socialism and communism understood as historical contexts, parts of a political project. You can know more about this in this article: "The 5 differences between socialism and communism"

4. Social democracy

The Social Democrats adopt elements of the Liberals and Socialists. On the one hand, they do not focus simply on the individualistic analysis of reality. On the other hand, they renounce the idea of ​​eliminating problems of inequality and dominance through the elimination of private property over the means of production (that is, technological or natural resources that create wealth if others work in them: factories, fields ...). Instead of that, they try to find a balance based on the redistribution of wealth.

Bibliographic references:

• Lukács, Georg (1919–23) History and Class Consciousness.
• Steger, Manfred B.; James, Paul (2013). "Levels of Subjective Globalization: Ideologies, Imaginaries, Ontologies". Perspectives on Global Development and Technology.
• Zizek, Slavoj (1989) The Sublime Object of Ideology Verse.