The West concept ranks societies and functions as an ideology

Evidence

Fourth, it provides criteria of evaluation against which other societies are ranked and around which powerful positive and negative feelings cluster. (For example, “the West” = developed = good = desirable, or the “non-West” = underdeveloped = bad = undesirable.) It produces a certain kind of knowledge about a subject and certain attitudes toward it. In short, it functions as an ideology. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 512

Categorization

• DEFINE: Hall folds the ranking-evaluative function of ‘the West’ into a working definition of ideology.
• XREF: Connects directly to the hegemony/ideology toolkit the Islamophobia readings assume.