An ideology in mass society

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the analysis of ideology as a way of building the integrity of the social matter in modern mass society. It turns out that a grey man possessing a number of disorganizing characteristics (nonreflexivity, passivity, averaging, orientation toward achieving utilitarian material wealth, etc.), is unable to integrate into the social structure of society using ideological mechanisms. An ideology that traditionally performed cognitive, legitimizing and integrative functions ceases to work today (or works differently). To identify the essence of the social hierarchy regulation mechanisms and new ways of integrating society, the paper considers two key concepts for disclosing this problem: the phenomenon of a commoner and ideology. The commoner represented in classical social theories as to the opposite to the elite, in real social practice is not its antipode, but only its reflection, since the elite today is the product of human mass, accumulating its needs and interests. This leads to the transformation of ideology: it can no longer appear as an external force in relation to the mass, building a system of the hierarchical structure of society. It is (or rather should be) the power of the internal regulation of society.