Identity & Ideology (Info) Flashcards
(36 cards)
What are the two main types of identity?
Personal and Collective
What factors influence beliefs and values?
Culture, Language, Media, Relationship to Land, Gender, Religion, and Ideology
How does Culture influence beliefs and values?
Culture is learned and passed on from one generation to the next. Each of us is born into a specific cultural situation, absorbing the values, attitudes, and behavior patterns of our culture. Family, community, school, church, things we read, and television shows we watch help mold you into the person you are.
How does Language influence beliefs and values?
Language is often a powerful symbol of identity.
- Words frame a people’s most important ideals
- Language defines cultural taboos (ex. swears)
- An indicator of political power (french and political autonomy)
- Iconic images or symbols can play an important part in communicating ideas (the nazi symbol)
How does Media influence beliefs and values?
- Today, online platforms, television, film, and print media have become an effective and efficient mediums for conveying political statements on a global level. The media is tremendously influential.
- Shows, movies, and music videos can establish trends for style and social behavior as well as subtly alter people’s perceptions of the world around them.
How does Relationship to Land influence beliefs and values?
Geographic location can influence how people see their environment, which in turn has an effect on how they develop their beliefs. (ex. farmers and fishermen).
How does Gender influence beliefs and values?
The enculturation a young boy or girl receives as they are growing up is influential. In some countries, the accepted rights and roles of men and women differ significantly.
- For some, strongly defined gender roles are comforting and offer a clear understanding of their place in society.
- For others, rigid gender roles represent a limiting of human potential and are something to be broken down or resisted.
How does Religion influence beliefs and values?
Faith makes the individual part of a community that shares a vision of not only what this world should be like, but also how the “next world” will be. Through the centuries religious faith has motivated both acts of tremendous cruelty and violence and gestures of remarkable kindness and sacrifice.
How does Ideology influence beliefs and values?
Whether you consider yourself a politically aware person or not, ideology has undoubtedly coloured your perception of the world you live in and helped to shape your beliefs about human nature and society. Ideology has also likely influenced your beliefs about how society should be organized and governed.
What are some themes of ideology?
Nation, class, relationship to land, environment, religion, progressivism
What characteristic of Ideology is shown?
“thinking about what humans are like and what they are cable of doing”
Belief about Humans
What characteristic of Ideology is shown?
“thinking about what is important to members of that society and how we should interact with others”
Belief about Society
What characteristic of Ideology is shown?
“how we got to be who we are…rebellions, revolutions, peaceful means, struggle”
Interpretation of History
What characteristic of Ideology is shown?
“what should society be like in the future”
Thoughts/Vision for the Future
What theme of Ideology is described?
- The Kurds live in parts of Turkey, and Iran and seek self-determination as a nation
- Although they number 30 million, the Kurds of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran are not recognized as a nation-state
- One aspect of their ideology is to seek self-determination as a nation
Nation
What theme of Ideology is described?
- Some ideologies which embrace collectivist values, such as communism, seek to eliminate class distinctions in society through income and wealth redistribution
- Other ideologies see class as evidence of a fair distribution of society’s resources based on people’s talents and initiative
Class
What theme of ideology is described?
- Some ideologies seek to eradicate racial discrimination
- Other ideologies, such as Nazism, have asserted the superiority of one race over others and have sought to separate people along racial lines
Race
What theme of ideology is described?
- Green ideology espouses, among other things, the principle of ecological wisdom, or respect for ecology
- Some thinkers believe that the landscape influences how the people of that land see the world
- For example, people living in a mountainous region might have a different worldview than those living in an agricultural plain
Environment and Relationship to Land
What theme of ideology is described?
- Feminist ideologies are concerned with attaining equal legal and political rights for women
Gender
What theme of ideology is described?
- Some ideologies, such as liberalism, promote freedom of religion
- Other ideologies try to create a society based on the values of a particular religion
Religion
What are some key aspects of our roles within society?
Social Interdependence, Rights and Responsibilities, Social Roles and Expectations, Social Influence and Change, and Cultural Transmission
Ideologies share certain common characteristics including…
Rituals, “sacred” documents and heroes, a simplified picture of the world, a belief about the nature of human beings, a plan for the structure of society, and a vision of the future.
What are values of individualism?
Individual Rights and Freedoms, Rule of Law, Private Property, Economic Freedom, Self-Interest, Competition
What value of Individualism is described?
ie. freedom of religion, freedom of association, and the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person. These rights and freedoms can have negative consequences in some cases, therefore, some liberal democracies attempt to balance the rights of one individual against the rights of other individuals, the rights of groups, and the needs and goals of society.
Individual Rights and Freedoms
