[Xmca-l] Re: The Ideological Footprint of Artifacts

[Glassman, Michael]

I don't know if this helps but in researching this term a few years ago with a student we found the term emerged right after the French revolution.  Instead of basing a social system on the activities of the populace and building up from these there was a movement to base the political system on a set of ideals.  This was disparaged I guess by a number of the more intense revolutionaries and they began to call this group of idealists ideologues - leading to the idea of basing your vision of government (or expanded to almost anything) in a set of abstract ideals.  I believe it was Marx who remarked that these French ideologues were walking on their heads - the goal of Marxists was to flip them back over so they are walking on their feet again (I believe this is what people often confuse as Marx flipping Hegel on his head - I have never been able to find a quote that backs that up.  If anybody does know of it please let me know).

Interestingly side note is that Thomas Jefferson was in France at the time and brought back the idea of ideology to the United States wanting to develop a system based on ideology and not practice.  The French eventually flipped over a few times, but in the United States we have been mired in ideology since Jefferson's return.

Michael  

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-l-bounces+mglassman=ehe.ohio-state.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces+mglassman=ehe.ohio-state.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Lubomir Savov Popov
Sent: Friday, June 05, 2015 10:03 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: The Ideological Footprint of Artifacts

Hello everyone,

A core definition of ideology in the political sense should highlight that it is a system for defending the social position/status that individuals and groups acquire in the economic process. All the rest is derivative. In that light, politics is also an instrument for defending or obtaining a desired position in the socio-economic process. 

In the professions, the word/term ideology is often used to denote a system of general believes and principles that drive professional decision making. 

Political ideologies affect design decision making and in that way affect the organization of artifact functions and morphology. And of course, professional ideologies drive this process overtly. 

Best wishes,

Lubomir