The Importance of Imagined Communities — and Benedict Anderson

Authors

  • Craig Calhoun

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats.130-1.2

Keywords:

nación, nacionalismo, Anderson, imaginarios sociales

Abstract

Benedict Anderson’s remarkable book Imagined Communities reshaped the study of nations and nationalism. Strikingly original, it broke with previous over-emphasis on the European continent and falsely polarized arguments as to whether nations were always already in existence or mere epiphenomena of modern states. Imagined Communities stimulated attention to the dynamics of socially and culturally organized imagination as processes at the heart of political culture, self-understanding and solidarity. This has an influence beyond the study of nationalism as a major innovation in understanding ‘social imaginaries’. Anderson’s
approach, however, maintained strong emphases on material conditions that shape culture, and on institutions that facilitate its reproduction — from newspapers and novels to censuses, maps, and museums.

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Published

2017-01-27

How to Cite

Calhoun, C. (2017) “The Importance of Imagined Communities — and Benedict Anderson”, Debats. Journal on culture, power and society, 130(1), pp. 11–17. doi: 10.28939/iam.debats.130-1.2.

Issue

Vol. 130 No. 1 (2016)

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

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