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Either one of the above terms would probably fit here, along with what the colleagues had suggested above.

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Note added at 3 hrs 37 mins (2004-09-28 04:00:12 GMT)
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The process of formation, forming

There is a Russian word that, I think, would fit the word \"formation\" here perfectly. It\'s the word \"formirovanie\" which is both a formation and a process of formation. The process of forming, creating, ripening, maturing, maturation, on the one hand, and something that has already been formed, created, ripened - on the other.

I hesitate to suggest this, because it is not very helpful. But "formulation" would make some sense here. It could mean "formulation" in the sense of the way of conceiving or understanding something.

BTW it seems from this question and your other question about "ideology" (I think) that this author is using "ideology" and related terms in the original sense. On this understanding, "ideology" is a set of stories told by a society to justify itself. So you could see the "ideology of mother love" as justifying leaving mothers of young children in the sole care of their mothers, despite all the possible problems (overload of the mother, lack of any kind of safeguards against abusive mothers,,,).

I beliebe you could, in this case, substitute any of the terms I suggest for "formation".
I'd choose "concept", but wanted to offer you a couple of other alternatives.
Good luck

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Note added at 10 hrs 57 mins (2004-09-28 11:19:33 GMT)
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After seeing some of the other options offered by the colleagues, and reading the entire passage again, I reiterate my original suggestions.

A \"commitment\" to a fabrication, creation, development, crystallization, realization, maturation, or formulation conveys the idea--in my non-native English speaker\'s opinion--that whatever is being fabricated, created, developed, crystallized, realized, matured, or formulated does not exist yet, but rather that one is commited to bringing it into existence. That is quite possible, of course, but in the case at hand I rather doubt, given the subject matter, that it applies here.

My interpretation of the passage as a whole, the \"ideological formation\" notwithstanding, is that the author is referring to a commitment to an EXISTING, prevailing concept.

Good luck!