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This is a module for students who are interested in political ideas and who wish to understand how those ideas are born and shape political conducts, or influence paradigmatic shifts in the domain of policy making.ÌýThe course starts from two basic propositions: firstly, the notion of a post-ideological society is a false one, and ideologies remain important to political action. Secondly traditional major ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism and socialism need to be re-examined in a new light as they have been complemented, challenged and transformed by new ideas and new political practices over the past decades.ÌýThe course introduces and discusses the notion of hegemony in relation to ideologies. Political forces compete to offer a convincing narrative to the public. They therefore use ideologies to justify their actions and policies. A successful ideology is one whose narrative is taken for granted by a majority of the population. Ideologies may therefore be about control and domination.ÌýBut ideologies do not boil down to power and domination. It is possible to view ideologies as a more or less coherent set of ideas which can be scientifically studied. In this perspective, ideologies should be seen as a tool which offers an interpretation of the world (past, present and future).ÌýThe course will proceed to introduce the main ideologies: Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism. Contemporary ideologies are in turn presented and studied: Fascism, Green politics, Feminism and gender politics as well as populism. Some directly challenge traditional ideologies; others overlap or simply complement them, or can only be considered as ‘thin-centred’ ideologies.