Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reproduces two special issues of the Journal of Political Ideologies which are the fruits of a conference held to celebrate its first twenty years. It was held at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham in late 2015 under the heading 'Re-energizing Ideology Studies: The Maturing of a Discipline'. The book explores how reflective airings of ideological material can concurrently comment on the shifting, if not seething, ideological terrain now sweeping across Europe and the guises in which ideologies penetrate public consciousness and language. It attempts a different kind of innovation. It may well be, argues Richard Shorten, that the people are mistaken in assuming that all major families at the authoritarian end of ideological patterning have already been covered in research programmes and public awareness.