Page 68 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

52 Ideologies

Student Exercise

In American culture, you will find many examples of the ideology of
freedom. View Fight Club and examine it from the point of view of
ideology. How is the film ideological? What personal ideal does it

foster? And how is that ideal linked to the kind of violent resentment

directed against liberals that one finds in right - wing evangelical
culture? Are there other similarities to the Left Behind series or with
Apocalypse Now ?

Note

1. “ Ronald Reagan TV Ad: ‘ It ’ s Morning in America Again, ’ ” http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY (accessed October 8, 2009).

Sources

For a general introduction, see James Decker , Ideology ( Houndsmills, UK , 2004 );
and David Hawkes , Ideology ( New York , 2003 ). On the connection between ideol-
ogy and self - identity, see Louis Althusser , “ Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses ” in Louis Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy ( London , 1971 ); and
Gordon Bailey , Ideology: Structuring Identities in Contemporary Life ( Peterborough,
UK , 2003 ). On ideology considered as a system of ideas , see J. Schwarzmantel ,
Ideology and Politics ( Thousand Oaks, Calif. , 2008 ); and Robert Porter , Ideology:
Contemporary Social, Political, and Cultural Theory ( Cardiff , 2006 ). On ideology

defined as a form of consciousness, see Patricia Ewick , ed., Consciousness and

Ideology ( Burlington, Vt. , 2006 ); and Ron Eyerman , False Consciousness and
Ideology in Marxist Theory ( Stockholm , 1981 ).