UNIT 1: IDENTITY AND IDEOLOGY

What is an Ideology?

Consider the images of the statues. Do you see pieces of bronze, marble, concrete, and copper, or do you see representations of an idea or a set of ideas? For many people, these images are associated with sets of ideas for organizing human society. In other words, each is associated with an ideology.

Can you identify any of the ideologies represented by the statues? Communism? Liberalism? Fascism? This entire course examines the development and impact of these ideologies as symbolized by these statues.

In Section 1, you began to develop an understanding of how beliefs and values influence identity. In this section, we examine the characteristics and themes that make up these belief systems, otherwise known as ideologies.