I claim science is ideologically neutral. In fact, that's what science means. The view that there is nothing but ideology, really means that there is no such thing as ideology. The concept ideology has no meaning if there is no possibility of going beyond it/escaping from it.
The science/ideology distinction is a venerable one and important to all philosophy. Ideology used to be called natural thinking, or prejudice, and the idea that it was possible to rationally penetrate the illusory appearance of things is the meaning of all science. Like Marx says 'if essence and appearance coincided, then science would be superfluous'.
It seems to me to be a thoroughly pessimistic and cowardly idea that you can never escape ideology. More than that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's like those liberals who say, 'of course, we are all racists, we can't escape that' as if it was part of the human condition. What they really mean is that they themselves are not going to do anything about it.
With economic categories, going beyond the surface appearance is the beginning of scientific understanding. Of course, if one can never escape ideology, then it follows that the superficial appearance of things is really all there is, and one should simply accept that the Stock Exchange continues to generate dividends out of nowhere as a fact of life. -- Jim heartfield