Your A-Level politics has two sections: the UK Government, and a selection of non-core political ideas. Those include anarchism, feminism, ecologism, nationalism, and multiculuralism. Of those ‘isms’, you will choose one to discuss at length. To make your choice and write about it competently, you must know what they all represent.
| 💡Ideology | 👍The main idea | 🔄Associated concepts | 🔑Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anarchism | Rejection of the formal state (the government). | Liberty Economic freedom Utopia Anarchy as order | Government, authority, power, state, control, autonomy, direct action |
| Feminism | Sex and gender | Patriarchy Intersectionality Equality feminism Difference feminism | Discrimination, gender equality, legal equality, political equality, reform |
| Ecologism | Ecology | Environmental ethics and consciousness Anti-consumerism and post-materialism Holism and sustainability | Consumerism, industrialism, materialism, green capitalism, biodiversity |
| Nationalism | The nation and its people | The nation-state Self-determination Racialism Culturalism Internationalism | Ethnicity, civic nationalism, liberal internationalism, socialist internationalism |
| Multiculturalism | The politics of recognition | Minority rights Diversity Culture and identity | Culture, tolerance, diversity, identity politics, formal equality |
What Is Feminism?
Young girls are compelled to conform in society ...
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Ms Gilman grew up in a household of strong, rebel women. One of her aunts was a suffragist, and the other was Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Another aunt, a teacher, had firm views on female education: that they should receive it, and that women were far better suited to teaching than men. With such a biography, one could hardly dismiss Charlotte's feminist education and leanings.
An ideology framing the belief of a society characterised by unequal gender power and status.
Across feminist studies and in the wider world, people tend to use 'sex' and 'gender' interchangeably. Students must note the crucial distinction between them, as they write about feminism:
The physical and biological differences between women and men.
The roles society dictates for women and men, in professional fields, especially.
Typical markers of discrimination include wage gaps - men outearning women, and the insistence on gender roles. Particularly those confining women to domestic and other low-skill work. Variants of this ideology include:
- Radical feminism contends that gender inequality drives societal dysfunction
- Socialist feminism pins social inequality to economics, particularly capitalism, which reinforces the patriarchal state
- Liberal feminism promotes individualism as the root of gender equality.
Post-modern feminism suggests that the patriarchy shifts its principles and methods of exerting power, depending on women's race, social class, or status. Mansplaining is an example of this type of power demonstration.
When a man explains something, particularly a relatively simple concept, in a condescending, patronising way.
Mansplaining originally intended to signal that men are more knowledgeable than women. Its definition has since expanded to cover any instance of a man adopting a condescending tone, regardless of the person's age and gender he directs his words to. In effect, that trivialises women's legitimate complaint about patronising attitudes.
Feminism embraces many socialist concepts. The type of socialism Karl Marx advocated for was one where gender was not a capitalist product, that assigned roles and divided society.
What Is Anarchism?
I deny your God, your authority, your sovereignty, your judicial State ...
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Little in this anarchist's background indicates a bent towards anarchism. He grew up in a stable family, dividing his time between work in his father's tavern, and playing with his brothers. The only hint of a turn from the norm was his lack of formal education: he never attended school.
The struggle to liberate people from economic exploitation and political domination.
It rejects all forms of political authority.
His mother taught him how to read and write, and he taught himself political ideas. Religion was his first intentional rejection of standard social norms. That led him to focus on social and economic issues. He began challenging all aspects of organised society through his writings.
The English anarchist, Albert Meltzer, argued that Proudhon was more of a 'parliamentarian', because he talked and wrote about anarchism but did not actively engage in the anarchist struggle.
In some respects, core political ideologies all use aspects of anarchism to advance their causes. At its core, this ideology means rejecting the norm, and striving towards new ideas - a version of the thinker's utopia.
What Is Ecologism?
Nature should be seen holistically – it does not exist for the convenience of man.
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson grew up on a farm, near the Allegheny River. She was a bit of a loner, often exploring the land and water on her own. She also loved to read; she was a young author, publishing her first story when she was eight years old. Her passion for the natural world shaped her life and career as a marine biologist and ecologist.
Activists credit Rachel Carson's work for giving strength to grassroots environmental movements since the 1960s.
We might go so far as to credit Ms Carson for inspiring women to enter environmental, ecological, and other scientific fields.
An ideology that dictates resistance to the effects of urbanisation and industrialisation.
Elements of ecologism have become buzzwords. Sustainability, which describes ecosystems' ability to maintain their health over time, has become a corporate talking point - or, a selling point. Some discount corporate sustainability claims as acts of greenwashing.
Greenwashing means painting oneself as ecologically conscious while still causing harm. You'll recognise other ecological key concepts sometimes used to greenwash:
- Environmental Consciousness: identifying with the non-human world; advocating for change in society and human nature.
- Environmental Ethics: calls for new moral standards towards the non-human world, which extend to state and economic actors, and to society, in general.
- Anti-consumerism: a social movement to consume less, and its economic and environmental impacts.
- Post-materialism: the shift away from materialism to autonomy and self-expression; the individual no longer defines himself through the materialist lens.
Subverting definitions is an effective way of reducing a concept's intended reach, as we note in our feminism chapter. Today's ecologists stand firm on those 'buzzwords' original meaning, and resist attempts to greenwash ecological responsibility.
What Is Nationalism?
[the fatherland is] the home wherein God has placed us ...
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini's brand of nationalism grew out of the idea that God placed people who looked the same and spoke the same language in one particular place. As it was God's will for them to be there, they must defend their domain at all costs. For him, patriotism was a divine mission, and protecting the nation was a fundamental duty.
A political ideology based on common cultural markers - race, language, and traditions- that link people together.
That general definition hardly describes this ideology. It's come a long way from its firm religious roots, to include other types of nationalism:
- Expansionist nationalism promotes heightened ethnic consciousness, and fear and hatred of 'others'. It denies other nations' rights to self-determination, and favours expanding its own territories (Lebensraum)
- Liberal nationalism favours a global collection of nation-states, typically a more tolerant national identity drives politics
- Conservative nationalism forms social unity and cohesion, focused on cultural identity emphasises religion's role in society
- Anti-colonial nationalism advocates for indigenous self-governance, opposes colonial rule revolves around beliefs in land sanctity
Often, conservatism, with its free markets and traditions, parallels nationalism, or works in concert with this ideology. One may even argue that conservatism grows out of nationalistic fervour: the desire to determine one's own fate, apart from 'others' who don't share the same roots.
What Is Multiculturalism?
Multiculturalism is a work in progress that faced challenges.
Charles Taylor
This political philosopher and social scientist took for granted that people must have the right to recognition of their identity. His overarching goal is to develop a credible philosophical anthropology. Such a work, which could redefine human nature, naturally overlooks human divisions such as race and traditions.
The cultural and religious diversity in a society.
Initiatives to balance this diversity with civic unity.
Your exam approaches multiculturalism from the side of cultural and religious diversity, and how to respond to it. Balancing such diversity against civic unity is our modern-day challenge, especially with the rise of nationalism.
Like our other 'isms', multiculturalism comes with different accents:
- Cosmopolitan: promotes global citizenship while toning down cultural identity
- Pluralist: each culture is equally valuable, and cultural recognition steers civic participation
- Liberal: the broadest multicultural expression, promoting civic integration and unity
What is the government's role in supporting multiculturalism? Should this ideology be a matter of government? Or should multiculturalism fall under the liberal umbrella: a matter of individual freedom?
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