ABSTRACT
Ideology was born as the science of ideas that, guided by the force of reason, would unveil the fallacies of the dominant thought of the period by showing its roots in the mundane interests of the ruling class. The issue of ideology has been the object of diverse approaches in the social sciences. The functionality of ideology in the reproduction of social privilege is a central element in any social formation. The chapter considers that an administrative ideology is a set of beliefs mainly dealing with who should manage organizations and how. Ideologies exhibit diverse mechanisms to achieve their aims of legitimation. The beneficiaries of social privilege must perceive their situation of superiority as legitimate and deserving. The ideologies of scientific management, human relations, and systemic rationalism were the successive dominant managerial ideologies under organized capitalism. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
