Shils, Mannheim, and ideology1

Abstract

The concept of ideology played an important role in the thinking of Edward Shils. He established his reputation on the basis of his translation of Karl Mannheim’s Ideologie und Utopie and he later refined Mannheim’s concept. While Shils always acknowledged his debt to Mannheim, he ensured that his concept was divorced from the Marxist leanings that he believed marred Mannheim’s work. Throughout the nineteen fifties and sixties, Shils returned to the concept of ideology and contributed not only to the discussion about its impact but he entered into the debate regarding the “end of ideology.” Shils continued to discuss the conception of ideology as late as the nineteen seventies. Shils clearly recognized the political importance and impact of ideology but he always examined it from a scholarly point of view.