Modern Political Ideologies

392 Pages·2009·12.46 MB·English

by  Andrew Vincent

MODERN POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
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To students past and present who have argued and disagreed
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MODERN POLITICAL
IDEOLOGIES
THIRD EDITION
Andrew Vincent
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
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This third edition fi rst published 2010
© 2010 Andrew Vincent
Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (1e, 1992 and 2e, 1995)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vincent, Andrew.
Modern political ideologies : Andrew Vincent. – 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4051-5495-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Political science. 2. Right and left
(Political science) 3. Ideology. I. Title.
JA71.V55 2009
320.5–dc22
2008038546
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Set in 10/13pt Sabon by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Singapore by Ho Printing Pte Ltd
01 2010
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I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
an underlying truth. (Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum)
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Contents
Preface to Third Edition ix
1 The Nature of Ideology 1
2 Liberalism 23
3 Conservatism 56
4 Socialism 83
5 Anarchism 111
6 Fascism 136
7 Feminism 165
8 Ecologism 198
9 Nationalism 226
10 Fundamentalism 261
11 Icons and Iconoclasm 292
Notes 294
Glossary 331
Bibliography 343
Index 371
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Preface to Third Edition
It is strange to come back to text which was written, in terms of the first edition,
almost twenty years ago. It is rather like revisiting old photographs of oneself or
one’s family. There is an odd mixture of discomfiture, delight and genuine historical
curiosity. In returning to this text in 2008, it is remarkable just how many ideas,
events, colleagues and even publishers and editors have come and gone in the
intervening years. Some ideologies have quite markedly declined or changed; others
have remained relatively static. Some components of particular ideologies which
were quite central to political discussion in 1993 have subsequently dropped into the
background. In the same period the study of ideology has expanded and developed
in sophistication. There is now The Journal of Political Ideologies, which is an excel-
lent academic supplement to both teaching and research work on ideologies. There
has also been a great deal of scholarly work done on the concept of ideology itself
and its role within political studies. In terms of the substantive chapters of this text,
it is a somewhat poignant sign of the times that I have included, in this third edition,
a new chapter on fundamentalism. This new chapter was difficult to write, not least
because I had to enter, once again, into the spirit of the original text and the manner
in which it was initially constructed. However, there are also many who would
contend that fundamentalism is a deeply problematic concept for inclusion. However,
contention and ideology are old bedfellows. I leave it to students of ideology to draw
their own conclusions.
Overall, in terms of revision, I have retained the basic structure of the chapters.
I have though worked carefully through the whole text and changed stylistic aspects.
In some cases I have revised, added, excised or redrafted. In certain sections of the
text I have left the basic prose as it was and only sharpened the language. In all the
chapters I have updated the bibliography. Some ideologies have remained static;
others show fairly wide ranging developments in the literature. Certain chapters
made me pause much longer, particularly fascism, feminism and ecology. The key
difficulty in dealing with change in the perception of an ideology is that one still has
to say something about the way the ideas developed. One therefore cannot ignore
prior ideological concerns. Thus it is important to try to gain some judgemental
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x PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION
balance in discussing the origin and development of the ideology, as well as integrating
more current intellectual concerns. It is not an easy process.
In working on this third edition I have drawn upon the goodwill, advice and
expertise of many academic friends and colleagues. I would like to thank p articularly
Michael Freeden for many years of friendship, collegiality and immensely fruitful
conversations and critical insights into ideology and political theory. Further, thanks
go to Andy Dobson, Roger Eatwell, Ian Fraser, Liz Frazer, Vince Geoghegan, Roger
Griffin, Mathew Humphrey, Mike Kenny, Moya Lloyd, Noel O’Sullivan, Chris
Pierson, Matt Sleat, Judith Squires, Jules Townsend and Rachael Vincent, for their
kind advice, and in some cases reading of material. Thanks also to the long-suffering
readers and editors from Wiley-Blackwell. The usual proviso applies here: none bear
any responsibility for this final text except myself.
Andrew Vincent
University of Sheffi eld
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