Customer Reviews

IMAGINED COMMUNITIES REFLECTIONS ON ORIGIN SPREAL NATIONALISM

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Imagined Communities, Anderson gives a detailed analysis of nation building projects and their relationship to print media. Nationalism has been a difficult concept to define. Some like King Faisal's right hand man, Sati Al-Husri, defined nationalism by language. In contrast, Anderson defines nationalism as a construction created in imagination by print media. "It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members," Anderson explains. Moreover, "It is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately, it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings."
Anderson looks at the early communities, which he says were mostly constructed around religious ideologies and were linked by the publication of books on those religious concepts. These original "communities" did not necessarily confine themselves to a given geo-political unit. However, newspapers made it possible for people in a geographically vast region to discuss the same topic at the local coffee shop, coffer or workshop. This, says Anderson, had a powerful impact on the creation of an imagined community, called a nation. Anderson then begins to look at conglomerate pioneers as a contrast to nation-state building projects. In this area, he discusses market-zones, similar to, but preceding organizations like the European Union. Who would die for such a construction? asks Anderson. He makes a distinction between this kind of imagined community and the imagined community of the nation-state.
Anderson's historical examination of the construction of nationalism seems to have merits. However, he leaves open the idea that it is an ongoing and dynamic process. This text lays the foundation for future examinations of "imagined communities" in new forms. Media appears to be a critical social component in Anderson's argument. If that is the case, there is another question that follows. What happens when the forms of media change? What happens when media, that was, at one time, limited to a geographical location becomes global? What happens when media forms that were at one time, linguistically limited, expand to bilingual or possibly even multilingual components? Anderson's book provides a great framework from which to do future scholarship.

I was disappointed in this 'new edition', because it is a missed opportunity.

When it was first published in 1983, 'Imagined Communities' deservedly became a classic in the analysis of nationalism - and an excellent antidote to those who beat nationalist drums. As the new chapter (on the 'geobiography of the book') at the end of this edition outlines, the book has now been published in 30 countries and 27 languages.

Partly inspired by Anderson, the debates on nationalism have moved on considerably in the subsequent 23 years. I was hoping that a new/revised edition would at least note these debates, and preferably comment and analyse them. Unfortunately, this edition does not. Indeed, even though the 'Preface to the second edition' (written in 1991) refers to the excellent 1990 book by Eric Hobsbawm 'Nations and Nationalism', that Hobsbawm text does not get a listing in the bibliography. There is little in the bibliography post 1983, and nothing since around 1990.

While the initial book is still well worth reading (hence the three stars), there is unfortunately little to recommend in this 'new edition'

Benedict Anderson's book Imagined Communities is an intriguing attempt at explanation of the phenomenon of nations and nationalism. Anderson's approach centers around the socio-cultural aspects of the explanation. For him a nation is by definition an imagined community, that is a community, the members of which are aware of each other's existence but, even for a lifetime do not meet or come to know a substantial number of the rest of the members of that community. Yet through a number of media they acquire a sense of belonging to this larger group. This definition which can be derived from the text leads Anderson to explore the origins of this sense of commonality. In his view three major factors have contributed to the emergence of these communities. One is the fragmentation of the previously single religious community. The Reformation, which led to the emergence of new Christian denominations constituted an assault on the Catholic Church and thus an assault on the principle of universality that the Church was promoting. Also, the geographical discoveries broadened the universe of the man of the Middle Ages to whom, previously, that same universe had been confined to the realm of Christendom. As universality was particularized and as the world suddenly broadened this for the first time gave the people the opportunity to compare and contrast their lives to those of others, very unlike themselves. The world and life had become more complex and the straightforward and, what is more important, traditional explanations of the church of life and death and suffering no longer sufficed. A comparison with Karl Deutsch (1966) shows certain similarities in this understanding of the origins of nations and nationalism. The process of the church losing its authority as the source of all the answers and thus the emergence of the sense of insecurity as a result of the loss of the secure firm ground of easy and unquestionable answers is one of Deutsch's examples of the reasons leading to "social mobilization". Anderson argues that one of the major components of the environment in which nations emerged was language. The decline of the usage of the old universal languages and the standardization of certain versions of each vernacular language (with the appearance of print-capitalism) led to the emergence of larger groups with shared identity on the basis of common language. So, Anderson argues that with the appearance of the bourgeois class (which alone had both the means - the market - and the incentive - profit - to spread printed books to the point of saturating with them the literate strata of society), a profound change began, a change that would eventually lead to the formation of nations, to the emergence of nationalism. Two more factors in Adnderson's argument could be regarded as central to the origins of nationalism - the decline of dynastic realm and the changing apprehensions of time. The former was important because it called for a new foundation of legitimacy and, in due course of time, nations came to be regarded as providing that foundation. The ruling elites even started at some point to consciously try and shape emerging nations in a certain desired way through the instrument of nationalist ideology. The changing apprehension of time allowed for the first time a look to the past as to history and not as a reflection of the future or realization of the future. It allowed for the first time a look at the future as to an essentially limitless period of time. The present became the calendaric present and not the Biblical "end of time", not the eschatological expectation of the end of the world. This allowed for new opportunities of "manufacturing" commonality, creating a sense of belonging to an established community. History, in the most general sense of the word, became instrumental in this respect - the map, the census and the museum served excellently to create a sense of tradition and continuity that would be convincing enough to create the community in the imagination of the people. Anderson emphasizes the role of the newspapers and, later, the radio in this process of creation. With respect to the nationalism in the former colonies, Anderson introduces the notion of "pilgrimage", meaning the mobility of the members of some key social strata between positions of authority (control). Where the upward (to the higher positions) or the centripetal (to the metropolitan country) mobility was restricted, this created additional conditions to the identification of the affected strata with a community (albeit imagined) distinctly different from that of the colonial state. Anderson introduces here aspects of Karl Deutsch's notions of "assimilation" and "alienation". Anderson's approach is very strongly psychological in orientation. He is discussing the influence of different processes (or events) on the formation of nations primarily in terms of their impact on the individual and from there on the group psychology. His analysis has much to do with apprehensions and perceptions. In that as well as through the points he makes in the text he implies that nations are above all something subjective, imagined. They exist only to the extent that they exist in people's imagination. Thus the sense of belonging to a nation, and the nation itself depend on individual perception rather then on objective factors. Yet the argument, concerning the era before the appearance of the bourgeoisie could be adapted to serve in the new conditions - one is born and brought up to speak a certain language, to have a certain religion (or be an atheist or agnostic), to live in a society that is shaped around certain values, experiences, history (no matter how it is interpreted to serve certain nationalist ideology), a sense of common future. These factors are objective to the single individual. He/she has no choice, especially in the early stages of life, no opportunity to grasp the partiality of these experiences as related to the entire world. For a considerable period of time the individual's immediate surroundings are his only universe and to many people they remain the only universe until the end of their lives. The very fact (which Anderson mentions) that the world today has turned the notion of nation and thus nationality into a universal concept, that people are EXPECTED to be of CERTAIN nationality is an objective factor. The nation then should be considered in terms of its objectiveness as well not only in terms of perc

Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities is one of the most important and influential books on the phenomenon of nationalism currently in print. The primary contribution he makes concerns the notion of the development of a community with shared or common cultural media that generate a sense of communal self-awareness or consciousness. Although he uses as his primary example the experience of reading a newspaper (which makes readers conscious of others who share their values, concerns, and experiences, even if they have no direct contact with those people, often over a great distance), the imagined community has broader implications.

This book will make you think about how you conceive of the communities you belong to, and how these communities are created and reproduced. Beyond the obvious importance of broadcast media, in modern American culture, the mall, with its ubiquitous chain stores, is an important motor of our imagined American community: you will find the same basic stores, carrying the same basic styles, in every town in America, creating a sense of common tastes and culture.

While some may complain that the book is dry and boring, it is a scholarly work intended for an educated audience. It is not a popularization intended for the general public. Nevertheless, if you are up for it, it is more than worthwhile.

Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" is justifiably a classic of political science and history. Its impact on the study of nationalism - which is arguably the ideology most resistant to academic study - can hardly be measured.

Anderson, a specialist in South-East Asian history, lets his scholarly instincts roam across the entire world as he seeks to explain just why it is that nationalism has become so prevalent in the world. What factors have meant that we take pride in someone dying "for our nation", while we don't take the same pride in someone dying "for our political beliefs"?
The answer, somewhat surprisingly, begins with a description of the origins and impact of the printing press. Anderson's argument, particularly the section most well-known to his readers, is that the ability of those living in a particular place to read in their own language (as against Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit or Chinese) began this process. It was enhanced, he contends, with the production of newspapers, allowing people to "imagine" themselves as Peruvian or Chilean, rather than as Spanish colonials.
Yes, the choices of nation were used advisedly above, as Anderson's second striking conclusion is that nationalism is a new-world (i.e. the Americas) phenomenon. The "Creole" intelligentsia, allowed to progress only so far by their colonial rulers, became the fertile ground necessary for nationalist ideals.

Anderson also discusses "official" nationalism in some depth, focusing on Europe and making some quite surprising comments regarding the penetration of the various vernacular languages into their respective empires.
This analysis seems a little more forced at times, but the general point remains that a "nation" is essentially a modern and "imagined" community.

The revised edition of this work also goes into some detail about the roles of censuses, maps and museums in the creation of nationalism. Using his South-East Asian training, Anderson is able to explain such things as the importance of West Papua to Indonesia, despite the marked cultural differences between most Indonesians and citizens of that province.
While this analysis is self-consciously global in scope, Anderson is modest enough to remind the reader that his training is in one region alone. This is a refreshing change from many scholars, who propound theories of global scope based only on observations of a limited series of events.

"Imagined Communities" is, as indicated above, a read of considerable intellectual robustness. It is not, however, a read for the casual history-reader. Anderson makes many demands on his readers, not the least of which is to follow his logic which is not always entirely apparent. With that in mind, the book can be recommended to all with an academic interest in history, but with considerable reservations to those without.

accessible yet thought-provoking reflection on national identity. Of interest to historians, political theorists, cultural studies. A book I keep coming back to in my mind -- so I finally bought a copy

This book is something of a classic of sociology but not a light read. Very briefly, the thesis of "Imagined Communities" is that political nations are the creation of modern communication networks (definition of modern: post-Gutenberg). When one stops to think about it, this insight seems intuitive. After all, how can people relate to other people unless there is first communication among them? In a world in which most people are illiterate and never travel beyond their villages, of course they would not think of themselves as belonging to a great nation of people since they would most likely be unable to imagine such a concept. With widespread literacy, the possibility exists of having communities of people who are not in direct contact with one another. Benedict Anderson takes this insight about nationhood and discusses how these imagined communities of people not directly in contact with one another may be formed. It is not surprising that the nations of Europe have formed around linguistic communities since having a common language facilitates communication. However, a sense of alienation from a ruling class may also facilitate a sense of nationhood, as it did in the Americas in the late 18th century when our founding fathers (and those of Latin America)felt themselves excluded from the political lives of their mother countries. Having the means to communicate throughout their colonies made possible the recognition of common feelings among these colonials. Futhermore, a sense of nationhood may be fostered by a state that creates through its educational system and its media a sense of shared experiences (eg, national holidays, national heroes, and national myths). Prof Anderson also describes how the predecessors of today's European nations "created" their national languages as well as their myths. This is a very sketchy overview of what I believe to be the major points of this book. "Imagined Communities" is not a book which flows easily. I believe that Prof Anderson might have made life a bit easier for his readers had he been able to express himself a bit more clearly. For example, he is describing how a sense of history is essential for the concept of nationhood. In order to think of oneself as belonging to a nation, one must think of oneself as being related to others who share only the circumstance of living at the same time. Furthermore, it is necessary to imagine a different relationship with those who have gone before. Here is a passage describing this idea: "What has come to take the place of the medieval conception of simultaneity-along-time is, to borrow again from Benjamin, an idea of 'homogeneous, empty time,' in which simultaneity is, as it were, transverse, cross-time, marked not be prefiguring and fulfillment, but by temporal coincidence and measured by clock and calendar." I think that this should give some idea of the flavor of Prof Anderson's prose. Is it all worth the effort? I think that anyone who is trying to understand the problems created by 20th (and 21st) century nationalism will not find much help here. A better book for understanding the lunatic-type nationalism which causes so much trouble would be Eric Hoffer's classic book, "The True Believer." However, as a primer for understanding how the modern nation came to exist in the first place, this book does offer some thought-provoking ideas.

Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson seeks to explain the seeds of what he terms "imagined communities," which are for the most part "nations". It is also a careful chronological account of how these seeds grew into actual policies through the breaking apart of the Latin language, the dissemination of mass-media into new ideas of national history, and ultimately how history and language served to preserve national identity. In the first chapter, "Cultural Roots," Anderson claims that the birth of the imagined community is directly linked to Industrialization and its two byproducts, the novel and the newspaper. The novel and the newspaper first made the public aware of simultaneous experiences that allowed them to conceive of themselves as not alone, but rather an entity that worked together. The concept of time as a linear, progressive notion was another result of Industrialization, and Anderson argues that this "calendrical" way of looking at the past was another important factor in imagined communities as it allows groups of people to think of a historic root in national identity. In the following chapter, "Origins of National Consciousness," Anderson takes his point further by arguing that print-capitalism and capitalism in general sought to benefit from growing literacy among "laypeople." In this way it was self-perpetuating in that it created more of a consuming public that, because of its expansion, began to create and shape a national consciousness of its own. Growing population in general led to the development of new languages from Latin, and the new languages thereby helped shape national consciousness as well. In the fourth chapter, "Creole Pioneers," Anderson explains how colonialism, particularly in respect to the United States of America, also contributed to growing populations who were a mix of the colonized and the colonials. In addition to expanding the public further, these "Creoles" also developed separate understandings of nationalism based on the model those who first came to the colonies. From here, author Benedict Anderson explains how, once established, new colonies such as the Americas "pirated" ideas of modernity and antiquity and used them for their own distinct national purposes. Languages were no longer the basis of national identity, but rather these pirated models gained momentum through administrative and educational institutions. In the chapter "Official Nationalism and Imperialism," Anderson explains how this idea of individual/national antiquity and modernity was adopted as a policy for the first time by various ruling classes: "Such official nationalisms were conservative, not to say reactionary, policies, adapted from the model of the largely spontaneous popular nationalisms that preceded them." (110) In the chapter "The Last Wave," the idea of this centralizing or "Russifying" of schools and administrative facilities is presented as already established within most of the European and colonized nations, and is shown as well underway in the case of Indonesia. This chapter also explores how "Russifying" of nations also led to another unintentional but financially beneficial necessity, bilingualism. Bilingualism was important at this point because it further explained how language was not the sole root of national consciousness, and also because it allowed for the proliferation of more print-capitalism (and at this stage, other new forms of media) which led to a wider understanding of nationality on the part of the reader. At this point, the idea of nationality and the implementation of imagined communities were firmly in place, but policies were necessarily shifted in order to preserve national identity. In "Patriotism and Racism," Benedict Anderson seeks to explain what motivated already-formed imaginary communities was the future. This look toward the future of individual nations in part explains the use of racism in nationalism, because "The fact of the matter is that nationalism thinks in terms of historical destines, while racism dreams of eternal contaminations." (149) Alongside racism, patriotism was also necessary to ground national consciousness, and only at this point is language instrumental in preserving national identity because it is now the link to the past and is a vehicle for people to understand the history of their nationality. The last three chapters of Imagined Communities explain how nations preserve their histories in different ways. Benedict Anderson shows how the legacies of dead regimes are actual models upon which revolutionary governments take over and continue to use. In "Census, Map, Museum" we are shown how each of these ways of classifying different nationalities in physical terms "illuminate the late colonial state's style of thinking about its domain." (184) And finally, in memory and forgetting, Benedict Anderson explains how staples of the "imaginary community" are further preserved by the illumination and glorification of certain aspects of history, and the deliberate "forgetting" of incriminating remnants of the past (i.e., the Civil War in America.) Imagined Communities is an straightforward account of how ideas of nationality were first born through print-media and language, how they later became policies, and how they ultimately sought self-preservation through different means.

Mr. Anderson does not promise or provide answers. If you're looking for a quick answer to the hard questions your professors are asking, you're in the wrong place - and perhaps the wrong class. What IS presented is a remarkable and thoughtful examination of the rise of nationalism - and more importantly, of the consciousness of nations as constituted in individuals and in communitites. Mr. Anderson examines some of the necessary preconditions to modern conceptualizations of "nation" in a manner that is at once accessible and deeply provocative. An essential read for any student of world politics and for anyone who would aspire to be an informed citizen in the coming decades.

I was first introduced to this book in a college course that examined the intellectual history of the 'Western' world from the French Revolution onward. Anderson's book serves as a thorough examination of the forces that shaped the nation, and also makes some unique assertions as to nationalism's origins. Some of his supporting examples are rather specialized (e.g. Indonesia), and Anderson tends to quote rather long passages in foreign languages without the benefit of a translation. However, his fantastic observations of the construction of nationalism as an `Imagined Community' make this text worth a spot in anyone's library.