2 - Approaches to the study of ideology in a socialist state

Summary

Let us seek nothing else in these fables but the errors of the human mind.

de Fontenelle, Origin of fables

So far we have considered how different schools of thought have approached the question of ideology's status and function in modern society. In trying to arrive at a further delimitation of the nature of ideology, it would be possible to cite a whole gamut of definitions given by Marxist and non-Marxist scholars which might help us construct an analytical framework useful for an empirical study. A comprehensive survey of concepts of ideology appearing in Polish sociological literature was provided by Wiatr in 1968. This indicated that Polish sociology has, by and large, discarded structural definitions, which identified ideology with belief systems characterised by normative outlooks, or with belief systems offering directives for action, or with false, deforming consciousness. Instead, it stresses ideology's functional relationship with the interests and goals of a given group. Hochfeld, for example, regarded ideologies as systems of social symbols which are correlates of social groups and which, when treated as systems, perform a functional role in affecting a particular group's social relations. For Wiatr ‘An ideology is a set of opinions and beliefs which serves social classes, political movements, national – and all other – groups as the foundation and substantiation of their activities.’ Socialist ideology is the expression of the consciousness of the working class, and it consists of a systematised integration of normative values, interpretations of reality, predictions about the future and directives for action.