Communism can be understood as an ideology.
The first thing we must do before beginning to unravel the term ideology is to proceed to establish its etymological origin. Specifically, it is clear that it comes from Greek and is made up of the union of two particles from that language: idea , which is defined as "appearance or form", and the suffix - logia , which can be translated as "study".
Ideology is the set of fundamental ideas that characterizes the thinking of a person, a community or an era. It is also the philosophical doctrine focused on the study of the origin of ideas .
Characteristics of an ideology
Ideology tends to preserve or transform the existing social, economic, political or cultural system . It has two main characteristics: it is a representation of society and presents a political program.
That is, it reflects on how society acts as a whole and, based on that, develops an action plan to get closer to what it considers to be the ideal society.
Some examples
There have been many political ideologies throughout history, however, among the most important or those that have left the greatest mark we can highlight the following:
Fascism . This ideology is based on the idea of the nation being above the individual, the obedience of the masses, the concentration of power in an individual who acts as a leader, and on machismo (men working and women being housewives).
Among the ideologies appears anarchism, which postulates the need to abolish the State.
Nationalism . The nation as a reference for the identity of an entire territory is the main defining feature of this type of ideology, which can be of very diverse types: economic, religious, ethnic...
Liberalism. This political ideology can be defined as one that strongly advocates the division of powers in the State , representative democracy, the individual rights of citizens and the rule of law. Without forgetting religious tolerance, equality between people and the right to private property.
Anarchism, conservatism, feminism, capitalism , communitarianism and environmentalism are other ideologies that have gained more weight and presence in the world.
Origins and scope of the concept of ideology
The term ideology was coined by Destutt de Tracy to refer to the science that studies ideas and the relationships between the signs that express them. Later, Karl Marx transformed ideology into the set of ideas whose relationship with reality is less important than their objective (to prevent the oppressed from perceiving their state of oppression). For this reason, Marx affirms that ideology generates a false consciousness about the material conditions of man 's existence.
In this sense, ideology is a tool of social control to deprive human beings of their freedom, transforming them into part of a manipulable mass.