On trilemmas and tricksters. Why ideology is a three-way thing and emotions help to manage different options regarding the idea of equality

Authors

  • Carmelo Moreno Universidad del País Vasco (UPV-EHU)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.176.10

Keywords:

Political theory, left, right, ideology, emotions, equality.

Abstract

Political ideology is often analyzed around the dichotomy of the left-right distinction. This rational and simplified way of ordering the different ideological alternatives to political action has a series of implicit presuppositions that, in an increasingly evident way, generates more problems than solutions when it comes to understanding how ideology really works in modern societies. In opposition to this dichotomous, exclusionary and reductionist model, this text raises the advantages of analyzing ideology in a more plural tripartite way, around three axes that both complement each other and involveoverlapping dimensions of contestation: conservatism vs. liberalism vs. socialism. This reformulation of political ideology as a trilemma allows us to analyze it not through arguments of political rationality (centered on the idea of congruence of one against another) but through arguments based on emotions, where ambiguity and mixed feelings play a much more relevant role. An example of this trilemma can be seen in the different ideological options that exist when it comes to approaching, in theoretical and practical terms, a concept such as equality from conservative, liberal and socialist perspectives.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

How to Cite

Moreno, C. (2017). On trilemmas and tricksters. Why ideology is a three-way thing and emotions help to manage different options regarding the idea of equality. Revista De Estudios Políticos, (176), 309–339. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.176.10

Issue

Section

ARTICLES

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.