Ideology

Ledia Kazazi, University of Elbasan "Aleksandër Xhuvani", Albania
ledia.kazazi@uniel.edu.al

Ideology refers to a system of socio-cognitively shared ideas that shape the identity, actions, values, and goals of social groups, as well as their relations to other groups. Ideologies are acquired and reproduced through discourse and social practices, providing coherence to group beliefs and embedding cultural values such as equality, freedom, or tradition. In discourse, ideology functions as a framing device: it influences how individuals and groups represent, interpret, and understand social reality. For example, media representations of migration may reflect ideological positions by emphasising threat, victimhood, or resilience, each shaping public perception in different ways. Ideological content can be conveyed both explicitly and implicitly, through presuppositions, lexical choices, and narrative structures. In opinionated discourse—such as editorials, political speeches, or social media commentary—ideology plays a central role in shaping evaluative language, argument structures, and stance-taking. Language users strategically employ ideologically charged expressions to align with or challenge group values. These expressions do not merely communicate opinions; they position speakers within ideological frameworks and work to persuade, justify, or mobilise audiences. Even the selection or omission of information reflects ideological positioning. This is particularly evident in polarised discourse, where competing narratives highlight how language encodes value-led assumptions and activates emotional responses. Ideologies are closely tied to politics, underpinning party platforms, policy debates, and public discourse on social issues such as justice, identity, and power. They provide the cognitive basis for how social actors understand their roles and responsibilities within wider structures of authority and inequality.

Keywords: discourse and social practice, framing, ideas

Related Entries: Power, Bias, Media Bias, Public Opinion as a Discursive Process

References:
Culler, J. (1994). Structuralist poetics: Structuralism, linguistics and the study of literature. Routledge.
van Dijk, T. A. (2003). Ideology and discourse: A multidisciplinary introduction. Pompeu Fabra University.
Eagleton, T. (1991). Ideology: An introduction. Verso.