Ideology as a Relational Effect: 2 Ideational Cut: Ideology as Constraining Possibility

In the previous post, we established that ideology is not embedded belief or attitude, but a relational effect emerging where meaning cuts intersect with value surfaces. To understand its first operation, we focus on the ideational cut — the vulnerability surface where ideology constrains what can be construed as real, thinkable, or possible.

Ideational meaning under ideological pressure

Ideational meaning is the cut that actualises phenomena. It answers the question: what can appear, and in what form?

• In ordinary language, ideational meaning is about “what happens” or “who does what.”

• In our relational framework, it is readiness for construal — the structured potential for phenomena to be made meaningful.

Ideology acts on this cut by filtering the structured potential: certain phenomena, causal relations, identities, or events become thinkable, while others are rendered unintelligible, marginal, or impossible to construe.

Examples of constraining possibility (conceptual)

• A social ideology may make certain forms of authority invisible or unquestionable.

• It may render certain groups or behaviours “unthinkable” or socially illegible.

• It channels attention toward some phenomena while excluding others from recognition or discussion.

Notice: this is not about belief or opinion. The phenomena still exist in the world; ideology shapes what can be semiotically actualised and taken seriously. It acts as a filter on the field of possibility, structuring what counts as meaningful experience in a social context.

Ideational cut as the foundation of ideological patterning

Without this cut, ideology cannot operate. Social pressure (interpersonal cut) and persistence (textual cut) depend on the phenomena being made thinkable in the first place. Ideology begins here: by determining which aspects of the world are intelligible, it establishes the range of possibilities upon which social uptake and value-based sanction can act.

Relational framing

From a cuts perspective:

• Ideational meaning = readiness for construal

• Ideology = patterning of construal possibilities, structured by repeated exposure to social pressures and value consequences

• Outcome = a semiotically filtered field in which certain phenomena can circulate, be recognised, and be acted upon, while others cannot

In the next post, we will examine the interpersonal cut, where ideology is enacted through social uptake, risk, and sanction. Here, the patterns established ideationally begin to encounter social pressure, shaping who can speak, who is heard, and which interpretations are sanctioned.