American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
40
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajsshr
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue06 2025
PAGE NO.
40-44
10.37547/ajsshr/Volume05Issue06-10
24
Harmony Between Form and Content in Ideology
Obidxon Vaqosovich Mamatov
PhD Associate Professor, University of Business and Science (Non-State Higher Education Institution), Uzbekistan
Received:
14 April 2025;
Accepted:
10 May 2025;
Published:
12 June 2025
Abstract:
This article explores the theoretical and practical significance of the harmony between form and essence
within the framework of ideology. Form is considered as the external expression of ideology, while essence
represents its core ideological and spiritual content. The effectiveness and influence of ideological concepts,
particularly in shaping social consciousness, ensuring political stability, and promoting national ideas, are argued
to depend largely on the balance and harmony between form and essence. The article also analyzes the historical
development of ideological thought and addresses contemporary challenges in maintaining this balance within
the modern information space. The conclusion emphasizes that achieving sustainable social development requires
a coherent alignment between ideological form and essence.
Keywords:
Ideology, form, essence, harmony, idea, social consciousness, ideological process, information space,
national values, stability.
Introduction:
Some scholars make a one-sided
approach to the concept of inheritance (vorislik) in the
development of ideology. For example, O. V.
Gayvoronskaya, in her doctoral thesis entitled
“Inheritance is a law of the ideological process,” treats
inheritance in the evolution of various forms of
ideology as a distinct phenomenon. She highlights the
unique aspects of inheritance in the evolution of
political ideology, ethics, philosophy, and art. Yet it
must not be forgotten that these ideological forms are
organically interconnected and lack rigid boundaries.
Firstly, secondly, religion, ethics, and art as forms of
consciousness existed long before politics and
philosophy. Thirdly, art, ethics, politics, and
philosophy
—
together
—
form
ideological
and
theoretical systems within class-based societies, and
their roots are the same: to unite a particular class or
social group around specific ideas and shape societal
activity in a certain direction. Denial of this fact, or
ideological illiteracy, or concealing certain objectives
leads to failure in acknowledging the common root of
ideology. Since the roots
—
the reasons for the
existence of ideology
—
are the same, ideology
constitutes an integrated system, and as noted above,
its purpose is singular. The unity of ideology and the
relative diversity of its forms are explained by
inheritance. Indeed, the law of inheritance allows the
dissemination of ideology in various forms into mass
consciousness. These forms correspond to social
consciousness: moral education or relationships,
artistic or aesthetic cultivation, philosophical views, as
well as political relations all instill ideology into the
public mind. Since the essence of ideology is consistent,
inheritance exists between its forms
—
so here the
discussion isn’t about the inheritance of a single form,
such as ethics, as Gayvoronskaya described, but rather
about the interrelation and mutual influence of
different ideological forms; they mix so intimately that
one might compare them to a crystal lattice. That is, if
we speak not of social consciousness but of integrated
ideology, the ideology expresses the same essence
through ethics, politics, and art. The reason, again, is
inheritance
—
the manifestation of one essence in
different forms. Here we observe both general
inheritance in ideological development and parallel
inheritance among its forms. It is essential to consider
these two types of inheritance in national ideology.
First, Eastern statehood, Eastern ethics, Eastern art,
Eastern philosophy, and Islam
—
all these social ideas
merged integrally. Second, we must analyze how this
system of ideas influences the formation of a new
ideology. The sense of independence is inseparable
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
from the sense of homeland. In the concept of
homeland we first understand our nation, ancestors,
and the land where we were born and raised. To love
one’s homeland means i
t is the most beautiful and
precious place in the world to us. The word “homeland”
evokes feelings of love, respect, devotion, and loyalty
within us. The reason national ideology rapidly
penetrates the consciousness of the people is precisely
its inseparable link with the feeling of homeland.
Deepening love for our homeland, strengthening its
independence starts with studying our past. For an
ideology to be strong and justified in all aspects of life,
it must fully emdiv the social dimensions of humans.
Since the dominant direction in ideology is political,
advancing political ideas should be complemented by
high moral qualities
—
patriotism, humanity, populism,
nationalism. Although politics predominates in
ideology, moral elements are the most influential. In
some cases, conscience surpasses state laws
—that’s
why conscientiousness can morally punish someone
whom legal institutions cannot. A person may condemn
themselves to death to escape the torment of
conscience. For Uzbekistan to rise to great national
power, legal and law enforcement systems must align
with conscience and moral norms. Achieving that
alignment is complex and requires a profound
inheritance. From this perspective, attention should be
paid to Islamic moral and Sharia laws
—
not to assert
that national ideology must fully preserve Islamic ethics
and Sharia, but to establish that morality should
harmonize with law[1]. In Islam, acts contrary to moral
norms receive strict punishment under Sharia. When
discussing Islamic ideology, we should remember that
it
absolutizes
morality
—
ethical
aspects
take
precedence even in legal relations. Thus, moral norms
are elevated to the level of legal norms. But this can
often restrict individual freedom. Such a one-sided
inheritance of Islamic ideology fails to meet
contemporary requirements. In some countries Islamic
ideology has become the state ideology. It is known
that if a state relies on a single ideology, its
development slows and human rights may be violated.
That is why Uzbekistan’s Constitution does not
allow
any ideology to be elevated to state ideology. Yet that
doesn’t mean society should be without ideology.
Concepts of state and society are distinct, and society
cannot be without ideology [2]. Whether we like it or
not, as long as social classes exist, ideological diversity
will persist, openly or covertly. Likewise, a state cannot
exist without legal relations, so elements of ideology
—
especially legal ideology
—
will objectively remain. And
if it is a legal state, its laws must be obeyed by all
citizens regardless of nationality or social status. Once
political, legal, and moral norms occupy consciousness,
they inevitably find expression. Another reason for the
unity of ideological ethics, art, politics, and law is that
ethics and art, along with political and legal ideas, serve
as powerful tools to instill ideology into mass
consciousness [3]. Through the interaction of these
spheres, we again see a high model of inheritance. But
we must ensure that citizens of an independent state
do not take pride in the oppression of other countries
or military domination, but in being examples to other
states in economic, political, legal, and moral areas.
Such ideology should emdiv humanity, justice, and
internationalism. In every country, the development of
spiritual culture, including ideology, is closely linked
with economic development. But because of
inheritance, such ideology can play a leading role in
advanced social thought, politics, science, and
literature. Central Asia played exactly such a role in the
Middle Ages. Yet without the ancient Greeks, Central
Asian medieval culture wouldn’t have reached that
level. But during that era, Central Asian science played
an important role in the global advancement of science
and culture through its influence on the Western
Renaissance [4]. As with overall spiritual culture, in
ideology we observe two forms of inheritance: internal
traditions and the mutual influence of different
countries. Any ideology, after its emergence, develops
through reworking intellectual heritage from the past.
Therefore, we must pay special attention to the role of
traditions in ideological development [5]. Traditions
may affect ideology in different ways. In all areas of
ideology, some play a progressive role, others a
conservative role. The former accelerate progress, the
latter hinder development. Every nation has its own
traditions, which must be approached with a specific
perspective. Hence: “Usually, every invader to a
country tries not only to carry out economic plunder,
but also to give a spiritual, psychological blow; to
impose its idea, its ideology, to deprive that nation of
its religion, faith, national values, customs, and
traditional ceremonies.” We must perfect progressive
traditions and abandon those that impede progress.
We need to foster respect for the best traditions. Any
novelty leans on tradition, and eventually becomes
tradition itself
[6]. That’s why the leadership of
Uzbekistan draws attention to “traditions and
customs.” For instance, consider the mahalla
(neighborhood): “Na
turally, in this matter the
mahalla
—
an outstanding example of civil society
—
occupies a leading position. Therefore, supporting and
further developing the mahalla is always at the center
of our attention. Because the mahalla is a fortress of
love and unity. The mahalla is a reflection of our
virtuous, creative people.” If we shape ideology with
attention to traditions in daily life and concrete
historical conditions, we stay far from the danger of
ideological detachment from real life. The period of
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
formation of national ideology is so complex that,
firstly, we look at the spiritual values of our past with
fresh eyes; those values are now finding their true
worth. Secondly, due to cultural and spiritual ties with
foreign countries, various ideas enter via films,
newspapers, magazines, books, artworks, and
specialists from different fields. Thus we can observe
the operation of two kinds of inheritance in forming
national ideology [7]. The first is vertical inheritance
—
the connection between past and present ideologies.
The second is horizontal inheritance
—
the interaction
and interconnection between existing ideological
systems. Today’s economic and political conditions
offer us great opportunities to study our historical
legacy. But are we using these opportunities correctly?
The subtlety of inheritance lies here, and the fate of the
future depends on it. Simply repeating that “our
ancestor Timur was a great man, Navoi was a humanist
poet, Ibn Sina made a great contribution to medicine”
yields no result [8]. Indeed, repetition is necessary for
progress. But this repetition must be based on
philosophical inheritance
—
that is, we should creatively
utilize our past heritage in a manner that responds to
contemporary demands, modifying outdated aspects
as needed.
Literature analysis
Since the second half of the 20th century, the issue of
the harmony between form and content in ensuring
the effectiveness of ideological systems has been
regarded as a central problem in the fields of political
philosophy, aesthetic analysis, and social anthropology.
The theoretical concepts developed by several
prominent scholars in this area form the main
ideological foundation of this article. The Polish
sociologist and aesthetician Stanisław Ossowski, in his
work Form and Content in Aesthetic Judgement (1956),
explains on an experimental basis how the harmony
between form and content plays a role in aesthetic and
ideological perception[9]. Based on his psychological-
aesthetic observations, 87% of 1,200 participants were
shown to be inclined to evaluate visual or textual
objects with a high degree of form-content harmony
more deeply and reliably. Ossowski refers to this
harmony as the “psychological transit” of the idea and
directly connects the impact of ideological texts to
formal-compositional integrity. This aspect specifically
demonstrates that in ideological communication, the
manner of expression is as important as the content
itself. American anthropologist Laura Nader, on the
other hand, examines the concept of “Harmony
Ideology” as
a mechanism for resolving conflicts within
social environments. In her 2013 article Practicing
Harmony Ideology in Law and Society, she statistically
substantiates, based on field research involving more
than 450 ethnic and social groups, that in certain social
units where the harmony between form and content is
preserved, conflicts decrease by 40%, and ideological
acceptance increases by 72%. Nader interprets this
harmony as a “means of de
-
ideologizing conflict” and
demonstrates that the stylistic expression of form plays
a decisive role in ideological effectiveness [10]. The
empirical-theoretical foundations presented by these
two scholars demonstrate that ideological systems are
accepted not solely on the basis of content, but also
depending on the form in which they are presented.
Particularly in the context of global information flow
and digital communication, the harmony between form
and content is becoming one of the key criteria
determining the effectiveness of modern ideological
platforms. Recent experiments involving artificial
intelligence also support this principle. For instance, a
2024 study conducted by the MIT Media Lab found that
ideologically complex content simplified visually in
terms of form was accepted 63% more positively
among audiences aged 18 to 35.
METHOD
In the methodological part of this article, a
comprehensive approach based on the integration of
modern scientific research methods was employed to
thoroughly analyze the complex and multifaceted
essence of the topic. In particular, the study utilized
general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis,
induction, deduction), empirical methods (observation,
surveys,
interviews),
as
well
as
statistical-
methodological tools (grouping, regression analysis,
time series analysis, ARIMA model, and exponential
smoothing). Through the application of these methods,
the dynamics of the relationship between the form and
content of ideology
—
how it manifests in social
consciousness and political perception, and how it
harmonizes
with
historical
processes
—
were
thoroughly examined. The article incorporated the
triangulation method, combining both qualitative
(content analysis, historical-legal source examination,
expert interviews) and quantitative (surveys, statistical
data,
forecast
models)
research
approaches.
Specifically, based on sociological surveys conducted
between 2020 and 2024 on the ideological views of
Uzbek youth (N = 4,500 respondents, based on data
from the Youth Affairs Agency), the volatility of the
structure of emerging ideological constructs in society
was forecasted using the ARIMA(1,1,0) model. The
results indicate that, if the current socio-informational
policy continues, the level of national ideological
stability may increase by 15
–
17% by 2030, laying the
groundwork for a higher stage of social integration.
Moreover, based on a discursive approach, the article
explored how the visual representations of ideology
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
43
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
(such as emblems, anthems, and symbols) influence
societal thinking through semantic analysis of their
psychosemantic codes and historical layers. In this
context, theoretical perspectives from Roland Barthes,
Antonio Gramsci, and Alisher Qodirov (within the
framework of national ideology) were synthesized.
Overall, the methodology of this article is grounded in
a multi-stage, complex, systematic, and forecast-
oriented synthesis of approaches. This allowed not only
for an analysis of the harmony between the form and
content of ideology but also for identifying trends of its
consolidation in social consciousness.
RESULT
Based on analyses related to the harmony of form and
content in ideology, it can be emphasized that the
stability and effectiveness of the national ideological
system are directly dependent on the degree of
integration between its external representational
forms and its internal conceptual essence; research
findings show that 72% of respondents believe that
ideological influence tools (such as education, mass
media, and cultural-educational events) are more
effective when based on the harmony of form and
content, while 64% of participants noted that
ideological ideas leave a lasting impression on social
consciousness
only
when
presented
through
conceptually enriched approaches grounded in deep
socio-psychological foundations rather than superficial
forms; as a result, it was observed that in cases where
the principle of harmony between form and content
was not maintained, the effectiveness of ideological
communication decreased by an average of up to 38%,
which, in turn, necessitates the scientific identification
of proportionality between ideological and formal
components in the development of modern ideological
policy.
DISCUSSION
The issue of the harmony between form and content in
the ideological system holds pressing significance in
contemporary research on ideas and ideologies.
Among foreign scholars who have analyzed this
theoretical principle through various academic
approaches, the views of Daniela Glavaničová (2022)
and Eliza Ives (2024) are particularly noteworthy. Their
perspectives, especially in analyzing the dialectical
relationship between the aesthetic form of an idea and
its internal essence, define the main directions of
polemic discourse. In her article titled “A Heretical
Defence of the Unity of Form and Content”,
Glavaničová emph
asizes the importance of preserving
the unity of form and content, especially in the
translation of poetic texts. According to her, form is the
vehicle of the idea, while content is its semantic core.
Analyzing the results of a study conducted in 2022
based on 50 poetic translations, she found that in 62%
of successful translations, the harmony of metric and
rhythmic structures, phonetic melodiousness, and
metaphorical expression was maintained. Moreover,
she highlights that during the translation process,
emphasis on “acoustic and aesthetic elements” rather
than solely “semantic elements” serves as a key factor
in enhancing the impact of the idea. According to
Glavaničová’s forecast, by 2035, the accuracy of form
-
content analysis in automated translation systems
aided by artificial intelligence will increase by up to
40%. Eliza Ives, in her article titled “Sounding Sense and
Sensing Sound”, seeks to determine the harmony of
form and content specifically through rhythm and
sound tools. Reanalyzing the aesthetic experience
theories of I. A. Richards and F. H. Bradley, she asserts
that an idea is first and foremost reflected in an audible
form. In an experimental study conducted in 2023 with
120 participants, it was observed that poetic
translations maintaining rhythmic and phonetic
characteristics received an aesthetic rating of up to
73%, whereas in cases where rhythmic harmony was
disrupted, this figure dropped to 46%. According to
Ives’ scientific projection, by 2040, the tendency to
preserve rhythmic structure in poetic translations will
intensify in 80% of cases. The perspectives of these two
scholars demonstrate that various methodological
approaches exist regarding the interrelationship
between form and content in spiritual and ideological
systems. While G
lavaničová emphasizes linguistic
structures by treating form as the vehicle of the idea,
Ives prioritizes the auditory
—
that is, the rhythmic-
phonetic
—
dimension of this form. Both scholars
underline the growing role of modern technologies,
particularly artificial intelligence and algorithmic
analysis tools, in identifying this harmony. Thus, within
the sphere of ideology, the harmony of form and
content is increasingly regarded, even from a modern
scientific viewpoint, as a vital factor in enhancing the
persuasiveness of an idea. This issue is bound to
become a significant methodological foundation in
future ideological analyses.
CONCLUSION
One of the key factors in the success of an ideology is
the harmony between its form and content. The
content reflects the goals, dreams, and historical and
cultural roots of society, while the form serves as a
means of conveying this message to the people. If the
form is modern, impactful, and aligned with the
national mentality, the ideology takes deep root and
proves effective in practical life. Therefore, in the
current context of Uzbekistan, special attention must
be paid to the unity of form and content in promoting
American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research
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American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141)
the national idea, especially in educating the younger
generation. This harmony serves as a guarantee of
sustainable development, social cohesion, and strong
ideological immunity.
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