A core subject for 2nd year students undertaking a Politics major, this subject provides an overview of the ways in which "ideology" informs our political landscape. After considering the historical senses of the term, we study a number of political ideologies, focusing on the different ideals of human nature and society that each upholds. We begin with traditional ideologies including liberalism, neoliberalism, conservatism, socialism and fascism, and then turn our attention to newer ideologies, such as liberation movements, environmentalism, religious fundamentalism, and more recent forms of nationalism. In closing, we study the controversial claim that liberalism marks the 'end of ideology' and we consider which ideology or ideologies might be relevant to contemporary political problems.

Subject rules

Readings