--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any dominant ideology operates off the…" description: "\"Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that what it has to say is unaccountable and unquestionable.\" — Henry Giroux" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png" --- # Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that… ![“Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that what it has to say is unaccountable and unquestionable.” quote by Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png) > “Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that what it has to say is unaccountable and unquestionable.” [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dominant ideologies claim absolute authority, discouraging critique. **In simple terms:** Powerful ideas claim they cannot be questioned. Key Takeaway Question assumed truths. Themes power ideology critique Mood critical provocative Type political philosophical When to use this quote - academic discourse - political activism - media literacy Key Concepts hegemony social control Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do you accept unexamined? - How can dissent be encouraged? A Different Perspective Some ideologies are open to revision and dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Dominant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominant/) [Dominant Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominant-ideology-247842/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Ideology Operates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology-operates-247841/) [Unaccountable Unquestionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unaccountable-unquestionable-247840/) [Unquestionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unquestionable/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty is the product of the dominant ideology. (Thus when ideology changes, the ideal body follows.) We can see that in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orlan/beauty-is-the-product-of-the-dominant-ideology-thus-when-ideology/) [Orlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orlan/) > [Literature is always what the dominant ideology recognizes as literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-is-always-what-the-dominant-ideology-recognizes-as/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“The construction of a new body of knowledge always bears direct connection to the ideology in which it operates. Historical insights that diverge from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shlomo-sand/the-construction-of-a-new-body-of-knowledge-always-bears-direct/) [Shlomo Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shlomo-sand/) > [Obviously, everything has always been defined by the dominant ideology. But the dominant ideology has been able to accept women's literature as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/obviously-everything-has-always-been-defined-by-the-dominant-ideology/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/what-seems-to-be-one-of-the-disasters-of-our-time-is-that-we-all/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Liberalism, the dominant ideology of our time, has been dangerously distorted by the impact of economism. It is that impact which has knocked the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-siedentop/liberalism-the-dominant-ideology-of-our-time-has-been-dangerously/) [Larry Siedentop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-siedentop/) > [“A dominant ideology represents the view of a dominant group, often by making the existing order seem inevitable. Thus, by depicting motherhood as natural,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-nakano-glenn/a-dominant-ideology-represents-the-view-of-a-dominant-group-often-by/) [Evelyn Nakano Glenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-nakano-glenn/) > [Valor was in Nikodemos, unquestionable, and commitment like trees to stand or night to fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-morris/valor-was-in-nikodemos-unquestionable-and-commitment-like-trees-to/) [Janet Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-morris/) > [I know of no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-know-of-no-such-unquestionable-badge-and-ensign-of-a-sovereign-mind/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“That vice has often proved an emancipator of the mind, is one of the most humiliating, but, at the same time, one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-vice-has-often-proved-an-emancipator-of-the-mind-is-one-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-know-of-no-more-encouraging-fact-than-the-unquestionable-ability-of-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [My gratitude to people who've picked me up and held my hand along the way is unquestionable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwanele-mketeni/my-gratitude-to-people-who-ve-picked-me-up-and-held-my-hand-along-the/) [Kwanele Mketeni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwanele-mketeni/) > [There are unquestionable violations of our Constitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/there-are-unquestionable-violations-of-our-constitution/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“There are many Universal Facts of Life: things that are so tried and tested as to be irrefutable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fennel-hudson/there-are-many-universal-facts-of-life-things-that-are-so-tried-and/) [Fennel Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fennel-hudson/) > [The new Germany has the unquestionable right to hold its tongue between its teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-liebknecht/the-new-germany-has-the-unquestionable-right-to-hold-its-tongue/) [Karl Liebknecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-liebknecht/) ## More by Henry Giroux > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [As politics is disconnected from its ethical and material moorings, it becomes easier to punish and imprison young people than to educate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/as-politics-is-disconnected-from-its-ethical-and-material-moorings-it/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [What must be addressed in the most immediate sense is the threat that the emerging police state in the United States poses not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/what-must-be-addressed-in-the-most-immediate-sense-is-the-threat-that/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Today's neoliberalism has a number of byproducts. We have massive forms of inequality developing because there are no longer any concessions. There's a war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/today-s-neoliberalism-has-a-number-of-byproducts-we-have-massive/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [At the start of the second decade of the 21st century, young people all over the world are demonstrating against a variety of issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/at-the-start-of-the-second-decade-of-the-21st-century-young-people/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [America is at war with itself because it's basically declared war not only on any sense of democratic idealism, but it's declared war on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/america-is-at-war-with-itself-because-it-s-basically-declared-war-not/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [All too often the worst thing that can happen to the young is to depoliticize them. When that happens, not only are young people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/all-too-often-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-the-young-is-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The generation of youth in the early 21st century has no way of grasping if they will ever be free from the gnawing sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-generation-of-youth-in-the-early-21st-century-has-no-way-of/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [History remains an open horizon that cannot be dismissed through appeals to the end of history or end of ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/history-remains-an-open-horizon-that-cannot-be-dismissed-through/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I mean, we're not talking about simply racism, we're taking about white supremacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/i-mean-we-re-not-talking-about-simply-racism-we-re-taking-about-white/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Historical memory is a potent weapon in fighting against the desert of organized forgetting and implies a rethinking of the role that artists, intellectuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-memory-is-a-potent-weapon-in-fighting-against-the-desert/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The fight for education and justice is inseparable from the struggle for economic equality, human dignity and security, and the challenge of developing American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-fight-for-education-and-justice-is-inseparable-from-the-struggle/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [If the ongoing struggles waged by young people are to matter, demonstrations and protests must give way to more sustainable organizations that develop alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/if-the-ongoing-struggles-waged-by-young-people-are-to-matter/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Many conservatives see higher education as a threat to their reactionary and corporate oriented interests and would like to defund higher education, privatize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/many-conservatives-see-higher-education-as-a-threat-to-their/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Everyone is now a customer or client, and every relationship is ultimately judged in bottom-line, cost-effective terms. Freedom is no longer about equality, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/everyone-is-now-a-customer-or-client-and-every-relationship-is/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) [Explore all 323 Henry Giroux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) [Richard Doll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-doll/) > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/) [Philip Selznick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-selznick/) > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that what it has to say is unaccountable and unquestionable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry Giroux" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-assumption-that-what-it-has-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assumption" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-assumption-that-what-it-has-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39b/henry-giroux-945_assumption_any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-a_810271.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any dominant ideology operates off the assumption that what it has to say is unaccountable and unquestionable.” — Henry Giroux", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Henry Giroux", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Any dominant ideology operates off the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-assumption-that-what-it-has-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/any-dominant-ideology-operates-off-the-assumption-that-what-it-has-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```