Chapter 3: Methodology
3.5 Ethical issues
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hyperbole, compassion move, negative comparison, generalisation, concretisation, alliteration, warning, norm and value violation, presupposition and so on. We expect the critical analytical paradigm, which is also part of the triangular framework proposed in this study, to expose all these in the structures of discourse identifiable in our data. Below are some of the ideologies existent in the world. However, not all of them are utilised in the analysis of the data, as some have been delimited in the study because of their non-relevance to the Middle East discourse, which is the focus in this study.
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c) Islam: This is a religious belief that is based on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. The sacred book of the religious sect is Holy Koran.
d) Buddhism: This is a religious belief that is based on the teachings of Guatama Buddha.
e) Hinduism: This is a religious practice based on the belief in (or idea of) reincarnation.
ii) Those who believe in the non-existence of God: This is an ideology based on atheism or non-belief in the existence of God.
iii) Those who are uncertain about the existence of God: This is an ideology that is hinged on substantive evidence to prove the existence of God. The ideology is popularly referred to as agnosticism. Its major tenet is that people cannot know whether God exists or not.
2.9.2 Social ideologies
These are the beliefs adopted by groups from societal practices and belief systems. They are picked from societal beliefs or groups‟ opinions on societal issues.
Five of these societal practices/beliefs are considered as ideologies because of their influence on the opinions and attitude of members of the groups. These include anti-Semitism, supremacist belief, racism, libertarianism and sexism. There are, however, some sub-group ideologies that derive from, similar to or align with some of these practices. They are also categorised according to their relationships with the five major groups identified:
i) Anti-Semitism: An anti- Semite is someone who hates the Jewish people.
This ideology probably began during Nazi‟s regime (1933-1945) when the Jews were said to have been maltreated by the Germans, or probably due to Israel‟s return to their present place which they claim is their ancestral land, but which the original inhabitants (Palestinians) describe as a false claim.
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ii) Zionism: This ideology must have derived from the Biblical reference to Israelites as God‟s chosen people. This must have informed the reference to Israel as Zion and Israelis as Zionists. (See: Bukarambe, 1986: 141 and Ogbeidi, 2005: 86 for historical details about the State of Israel)
iii) Racism: Racism derives from the belief in the supremacy of one‟s race and that the different races of people have different characters and abilities. This ideology usually gives rise to other ideological sub groups such as; xenophobia (strong fear or dislike of people from other countries or races), ethnocentrism, tribalism and homogeneity which all encapsulate the idea of being concerned with own identities and the basis for excluding out-group.
iv) Sexism: This is the belief that one sex is weaker, less intelligent or less important than the other, resulting in the unfair treatment of the perceived weaker sex. Associated with this belief is the ideological practice of chauvinism, which is usually described as male chauvinism because of the tendency to be prevalent among the male sex.
v) Libertarianism: This is the ideology borne out of the need to wriggle the media free from (absolute) control by the state and the promotion of human right, equity and justice. It also entails freedom of expression (free speech), unhindered access to public information, non/declassification of document and non-manipulation of (public) opinion. (This ideology is said to derive from the ideas of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826); James Madison (1751-1836) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)).
2.9.3 Government ideologies
These are ideologies based on systems of government by nations of the world.
The list is, however, not exhaustive but mention is made of some that are common place.
These include democracy, theocracy, monarchy, plutocracy, oligarchy, autocracy and aristocracy.
i)
Democracy: This is a system of government in which every citizen in the country that has attained the rightful age of voting can vote or participate in an election scheduled to elect government officials. This system of government operates in a republic or country which is governed by elected representatives of the people, led by a president or prime minister.ii) Monarchy: This is a system of government in which a country is ruled by a king or queen.
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iii) Plutocracy: This is a system of government in which only the rich are in government.
iv) Autocracy: This is a system of government in which one person has unlimited power with which she or he controls the government.
v) Oligarchy: This is a system of government which only the few or a small group of people are in control of government.
vi) Aristocracy: This is a system of government in which people of the highest social class run the government.
vii) Theocracy: This is a social system or state controlled by religious leader(s).
2.9.4 Political ideologies
By political ideology, we mean the ideology that is based on the economy policy of a state. This policy is usually fashioned after the idea of a political figure or a charismatic leader who, perhaps, has ruled the state one time or the other, or unable to rule before he died but left a vision of how the state should be run and this idea is usually pursued by the government, even long after the visionary leader has died. Examples of these politico-economic ideologies include Socialism, Capitalism, Marxism, Trotskyism, Communism, Conservatism, Totalitarianism, and Reformism.
i) Socialism: This is a political and economic system in which large industries are owned by the government and taxes and levies are used to take some wealth away from rich citizens and give to the poorer citizens.
ii) Capitalism: This is a political and economic system in which businesses belong mostly to private owners, and not to the government.
iii) Communism: This is a politico-economic system in which government controls the production of all food and goods in the country, and private ownership of property is disallowed.
iv) Marxism: This is a political ideology named after its chief proponent, Karl Marx, which explains changes in history as the result of a struggle between social classes.
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v) Trotskyism: This is a political ideology that is based on the ideas of Leon Trotsky that the working class should take control of the state.
vi) Conservatism: This is a political ideology that believes that the society should either maintain the status quo or strive for as little change as possible.
vii) Reformism: This is a political ideology that believes that there should be a change in political ideas, system, law or organisation in order to improve the society.
viii) Totalitarianism: This is a political system in which ordinary people have no power and are completely controlled by the government.
2.9.5 Conflict ideologies
Some ideologies are in place because of some prevailing conflict situations. The perception of each of these ideologies usually depends largely on the angle or the side of conflict to which an individual belongs. In other words, while some people may be perceived as terrorists by an out-group, this same set of people may be described as freedom fighters by the in-group. We may however describe some activities in conflict situation that usually inform the perception of certain group by the other. These include militancy, militarism, jihad, activism, terrorism, guerrilla warfare and militia campaign.
i) Militancy: This is an ideology, idea or a belief that strong or violent action should be used to achieve political or social change.
ii) Militarism: This is a belief that a country should build up its military forces and use them to protect itself and get what it wants.
iii) Jihad: This is a holy war fought by the Muslims.
iv) Activism: This is a belief that one should fight against an unfair or dishonest government, army or social system.
v) Guerrilla warfare: This is a small unofficial military group that fights in a small group, usually on the mountains and in the forest.
vi) Terrorism: This is a belief in the use of violence such as bombing, kidnapping or shooting to obtain political demands from government or making government do something.
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vii) Militia campaign: A militia group contains people trained as soldiers, but not part of the State‟s army. They are usually restricted to maintain security at their local areas.
2.10 Summary
All issues focused in this chapter are quite fundamental as they provide the necessary framework for this study. As a result, it gives the study the necessary background against which views and arguments can be located in the analyses of data in this study and see where and how issues and features emerge, merge, differ from or subvert others. However, it is necessary to point out that some issues discussed in the chapter, especially under ideologies in the world, are based purely on literal understanding of the concepts as obtained from their dictionary descriptions, which do not involve the opinion or ideological position of the researcher.
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