Familist ideology and possessive individualism

Abstract

Before taking the discussion about ideology any further, it is perhaps necessary to clarify what is meant by the term in this context. It was discussed earlier how a particular view of the family and the expected roles of its various members underlies a whole range of policies, especially, but not exclusively, policies related to caring. There is a consistency and a patterning in this that suggests a coherent ideology underlying these social forms. Fallers (1961) defined ideology very broadly as ‘that part of culture which is actively concerned with the establishment and defence of patterns of belief and value’. This definition, while it omits discussion of establishment ‘how’ and ‘in whose interests’, does stress the defence of these patterns, which emphasizes that ideology is something that is contestable. Thus dominant ideology is that which successfully establishes and defends its hegemony, overriding others’ interests and buttressing those which it underpins.