1.10 Characteristics of Ideologies


Your worldview is how you interpret or respond to events that happen around the world. A worldview is the framework or lens through which an individual or group interprets and interacts with the world. A worldview creates a context for everything we do.

Various societies have developed their own ways of looking at the world. These societies can be influenced by how they interpret human nature. These societies must determine the answers to questions such as the following (not a complete list):



  • Do some people deserve special privileges? For example, before the French Revolution in 1789, French society was divided into three estates. The First and Second Estates (making up a minority of the population) enjoyed all the benefits of society while the Third Estate (the majority of the population) did not. The French Revolution changed all that by abolishing the Ancien Régime and beginning the construction of a society where everyone was equal.

  • What is our relationship to the land and the environment? For example, many Aboriginal peoples have a spiritual connection to the land that results in such close ties to the environment that the land is an important part of Aboriginal identity.

  • What is the basis of our moral beliefs? For example, during the Industrial Revolution in England, many of the common working class people were living in great poverty; there was child labour along with poor living and working conditions. Some people in the government and upper classes worked to enact laws to improve these conditions because they believed that to subject human beings to such miserable circumstances was immoral.


In the same way that society tries to answer these questions, individuals must also ask themselves the same questions. We must understand that the characteristics of ideologies are important. How do we display our ideological beliefs in our interactions with others?


Some of the characteristics that are the basis of worldviews of ideologies.





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