Beyond Politics is one of several books by George Walford.

Preface | Introduction | Politics as Ideology | The British Political Series | The World Political Series | From Politics to Ideology | Ideology Beyond Politics | The Beginnings | From Village to Empire | After The Empires | The Eidodynamic | The Origins of Ideologies | The Evolution of Ideology | Conclusion | Appendices | Notes & References | Select Bibliography | Index | Synopsis | George Hay Review | Martin Stuart-Fox Review | Martin Stuart-Fox Review | Freedom Review |

Download the complete book in Portable Document Format.

Reviews
"The clarity of Walford's prose and the logic of his explanation of systematic ideology provide an excellent foundation for further exploration."
- Thelma J. Shinn, Professor of English and Women's Studies, Arizona State University.

"... a very stimulating and important book."
- Self & Society Magazine.

"[This] theory is one of the most important and interesting in its field... a bold and original creation... its solution to the problem of the point of view from which one discusses an ideology is embodied within the theory itself..."
- Zvi Lamm, Professor of the History of Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Back Cover
It is coming to be accepted, even by political movements themselves, that each of them has a particular set of ideas, values and assumptions, a distinctive ideology. Usually seen as something the movement adopts to help it reach its objectives, the ideology turns out on closer inspection to be that which provides its identity and the reason for its existence. Rather than the ideology serving the movement, the movement serves the ideology.

In medicine too, and in warfare, education, science, industry, commerce, religion, law and philosophy, in fact in all social activities, we work to put our ideology into practice, trying to bring the world and our circumstances into agreement with our set of beliefs, values and assumptions.

This raises questions: How do these sets, these ideologies, arise? How do they come to be what they are? Why are there more than one? How do they stand to each other? Shall we have to reckon with them in the future? Will they always continue as they are?

Starting with the parties and their policies, Beyond Politics goes on to trace the influences of ideology in the history of society and in some of the main fields of social activity outside party politics. It shows how the major ideologies arise and how they come to be what they are; it looks at some of the ways in which they interact and tries to work out what we can reasonably expect from them in the future.

Inside Front Dust Jacket
"Ideology" used to indicate something causing false consciousness in other parties while the speaker's movement remained free of its baneful influence. Now that is changing; politicians are beginning to speak of their own party as having an ideology.

Beyond Politics shows that this change has not yet gone far enough, for the influence of ideology extends beyond political parties and movements. In all our social activities, whether playing with the children, practicing a trade or profession, fighting a war, cooking, shopping or fox-hunting, we follow a pattern set by one of the major ideologies.

These do not stand as it were side-by-side, and they do not simply conflict with each other; they form a system. Hence the name of the approach used in this book; systematic ideology.

Inside Rear Dust Jacket
George Walford claims to have been educated mainly by the left wing, the London Library and antiquarian bookselling. He has published in Systematics, Science and Public Policy, The Ethical Record, English Today and Raven, and for the past ten years has edited Ideological Commentary.

He published a pamphlet, An Outline Sketch of Systematic Ideology, in 1977 and a book, Ideologies and their Functions, in 1979, but now finds these unsatisfactory. Beyond Politics is intended to replace them.

Dedication
For Ike

Indicia
First published 1990 by Calabria Press. Printed in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Copyright © the Estate of George Walford 2004, 2005 All Rights Reserved.

Hardback ISBN 0 950544 5 8
Paperback ISBN 0 950544 6 6