Social movements - Essay Example

FOUR KINDS OF IDEOLOGIES AND THEIR EFFECT ON WESTERN POLITICS Nationalism is a concept or system of identifying a nation apart from the others. Itmay be based on culture or politics. It doesn't insinuate however that a nation is better than the others; rather, its idea is to leave a nation to govern itself based on the principle of self-determination. Industrialization is a process of social and economic turn about whereby a country or state is transformed from an industrialized state to an industrial one through massive advanced technological innovation.

This concept is then identified with the economic status of states. Marxism is defined by Wikipedia as the philosophical, social theory and political practice based on the works of Karl Marx, a known proponent of a social revolution to achieve full transformation of the state from capitalism to socialism. Its aim is to achieve equal distribution of wealth to all members of the society. This is totally opposite to the theory of capitalism that is often the system observed in western countries.

Here, the labor force is treated as the major factor in the production of wealth rather than capital which is held only by a few. Existentialism on the other hand is a philosophical movement that gives meaning to human's existence in this world and seeks to value one's existence. Here, the meaning of life is given paramount consideration over other aspects such as politics, economy and sciences. It is opposed to the western's ideology on rationalism. Its core idea is that reality is not the consciousness but "being in this world.

" The first three principles are somehow related to each other in the sense that nationalism is the moving force behind the pursuit to industrialization and Marxism. Thus, it is nationalism that justifies the continued attempts to fully industrialize the economy and to distribute the wealth of the nation. Existentialism on the other hand is totally apart from the first three concepts as it involves the individual perception of life without any relation to one's country or social group. The pattern of the political framework of the western countries is geared towards the achievement of industrialization.

As a capitalist country, its inclination is on the capital itself. It views this goal as an expression of nationalism or patriotism as the west believes that it is through industrialization that full economic freedom is achieved. Thus, many US-based international organizations such as World Bank adopts the development paradigm of poverty reduction through increased trade and commerce. Despite full awareness of Marxism ideology, the western politics moves against it. The former is opposed to the idea of industrialization and capitalism which are the core ideologies subscribed to by the west.

On the other hand, existentialism affects the western culture, but not its politics per se, as it allows the people to decide for themselves whether to believe God or not, to accept the realities of life, and live with it. Thus, liberal ideology is rooted on this theory which is generally accepted in the western countries.SOURCE:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism. Retrieved 17 July 2006.