This brief and affordable introductory book places ideology at the center of contemporary life, unmasking its role in shaping important social relationships. Offering both an historical overview of the concept as well as current questions about who pays, profits from, controls, or is victimized by current social arrangements, Ideology aims to move us beyond the "narcosis" of socialization and into the space of authentic citizenship.

Beginning with Marx and C. Wright Mills, and moving through Mannheim and Althusser, Postmodernism, Freire, Chomsky, and bell hooks, the authors analyze ideology in classic political terms but also by looking at how race, gender, and class are incorporated into educational, media, and entertainment experiences. They close with a discussion of the public/private dichotomy and attempts to reclaim citizen space within modern democracies. In the process, Bailey and Gayle offer an understanding of the power of ideology in our lives as well as a set of principles for social action.