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"It [the nation] is an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign" (Anderson 1983:15)

Analyse Benedict Anderson's Theory of Imagined Communities

Imagined

the idea behind this theory is that members of even the smallest nations will never get to know or meet most of their fellow members but yet in their minds there exists an idea that they feel that there is an "...image of their communion..." (Anderson 1983:15)

Sovereign

Limited

(Anderson 1983) argues the age of enlightenment and revolution was destroying the legitimacy of monarchical and dynastic power, and due to this, none of these claim authority over the population.

Anderson (1983:15) argues "the nation is limited because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion human beings, has finite if elastic boundaries, beyond which lie other nations".

Community

Print Capitalism

Anderson (1983) argues that the first European nation-states were formed around their "national print-languages"

Anderson (1983) argues that regardless of the socio-economic background of the members of the nation i.e. inequality, wealth etc, "... the nation is always conceived as deep, horizontal comradeship".

"...narratives of national life carries a deeper emotional meaning" (Kramer 2011)

How does it relate to nationalism in the Americas?

The Americas had the ability to identify themselves by what they were not. Anderson argues that 'Creole's' could not be considered Spanish because they were not born in Spain (Anderson 1991:58)

Anderson also claims that because 'Creole's' were not considered Spanish as they were economically exploited, although remaining vital to the Empire (Anderson 1991:58)

Ernest Gellner

"It is not denied that one may on occasion have an overlay of pre-industrial structures and national sentiment. A tribal nation may for a time be tribal internally and national externally" (Gellner 1983:158)

Industrialization

Industrial Society:

  • Barriers between communities broken
  • Allows economic and social mobility

Referencing List

Conclusion

Anderson, B. (1991), Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. (Revised and Extended. ed.). London, Verso.

Gellner, E. (1983), Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Kramer, L. (2011), Nationalism in Europe and America. The University of North Carolina Press.

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