Ideologizing institutions: Laski, Hayek, Keynes and the creation of contemporary politics

Abstract

The central institutions of our society, the government and the economy, have become, in contemporary politics, objects of ideology. The ideologized versions of these institutions ascribe uniform and predictable qualities to what are in fact complex and variable entities. This ideologizing of institutions utilizes the work of Harold Laski, Friedrich Hayek and Maynard Keynes. Harold Laski argued for a democratically responsive state that would replace capitalism with a socialized economy. Hayek celebrated the market and depreciated governmental regulation. Maynard Keynes thought that intelligent policy‐makers could bring the two institutions into harmony and rescue them from the ‘stupidity’ of the less enlightened. This article uses a methodology termed identity analysis to explore the links between identity development, ideological formation, and political appeal. The objective is to note links between developmental conflicts and social challenges, and to see how these links relate to the generation of ideologies. Furthermore, the analysis will focus on how identity shapes the oppositional focus of each person's work. We will illustrate how opposition derived from identity needs leads into an analytical blindness that creates an opening for the shift from ideas to ideology