Ideology: Structuring Identities in Contemporary Life - Softcover

Bailey, Gordon; Gayle, Noga

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442600853 ISBN 13: 9781442600850

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2003

Synopsis

This brief and affordable introductory book places ideology at the center of contemporary life, unmasking its role in shaping important social relationships. Offering both an historical overview of the concept as well as current questions about who pays, profits from, controls, or is victimized by current social arrangements, Ideology aims to move us beyond the "narcosis" of socialization and into the space of authentic citizenship.

Beginning with Marx and C. Wright Mills, and moving through Mannheim and Althusser, Postmodernism, Freire, Chomsky, and bell hooks, the authors analyze ideology in classic political terms but also by looking at how race, gender, and class are incorporated into educational, media, and entertainment experiences. They close with a discussion of the public/private dichotomy and attempts to reclaim citizen space within modern democracies. In the process, Bailey and Gayle offer an understanding of the power of ideology in our lives as well as a set of principles for social action.

About this title

About the Authors

Gordon Bailey is an instructor in the Sociology Department at Capilano College in North Vancouver, British Columbia and co-editor of Sociological Theory: Essential Readings (Oxford University Press, 2003).

Noga Gayle is an instructor in the Sociology Department at Capilano College in North Vancouver, British Columbia and co-editors of Sociological Theory: Essential Readings (Oxford University Press, 2003). She has also co-edited Learning to Write: Women's Studies in Development (Collective Press, 1998) with Dawn Currie and Penny Gurstein. 

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1442600853
• ISBN 13: 9781442600850
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 176