Page 21 - Flipbook: Sociology Shortcuts Issue 3

This suggests ideologies have a social
solidarity role in that they bring like-
minded people together (as with the
very different examples of German
Nazis and Apple fanboys) - although
we should balance this by noting how
the clash of strongly-held
ideological beliefs, economic,
political, religious and so forth, is
also a source of great conflict.

Ideologies are important
building blocks in the social
construction of reality because
they play an over-arching
structural role in any society.

This follows because they
represent complete systems of
belief - something Chibnall (1977)
suggests that is important because

"Ideological structures permit events
to be “mapped”, i.e. located within
wider contexts and related to similar
events".

Ideologies, in this sense, are mental maps that
tell us not only where we've been - our cultural
history - but also where, as a society, we want
to go in terms of things like economic, political
and cultural development.

Ideologies are powerful structuring agencies in
any society because they function to pull-
together the various strands of our individual
and cultural existence and give them coherence;
they help, in other words, to map the social
world by giving it a sense of meaning, stability
and order.

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