Community of imagination

• @nendaishi: [For those in the humanities] I will be hosting a reading group on Benedict Anderson’s “Imagined Communities”! 🥳 If you are interested in politics and nationalism, please join us! Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you are new to the subject or have studied it before. 🌷 https://t.co/NtnrZi8z79

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• Introduction

  • Nationalism is difficult to explain, even though it clearly exists.
  • Nationalism has been ignored as an exception in Marxist theory.
    • What about the national bourgeoisie?
  • Claims
    • Nationalism and nationality are cultural constructs.
    • They were created through the intersection of cultures in the late 18th century and then spread as modules or standards.
    • Unlike ideologies created based on philosophical backgrounds (e.g., communism), they are different from other -isms.
      • Therefore, they should be seen as relatives, like kinship or religion, rather than as companions of fascism, liberalism, or communism.
      • Thus, the nation is defined as an “imagined political community” that is mentally represented.
      • The nation is imagined as a sovereign entity (?).
• • It is compared to pre-nationalism cultural systems.
    • The author mentions religious communities and kingdoms as other cultural systems.
  • Notions of time
    • The messianic time of religion
    • The notion of simultaneity associated with nationalism
      • Imagining that we share time with people we have never met
      • It is claimed that this contributes to the strength of the “singular community,” but it doesn’t seem to be related to the concept of community..?
        • I think I’m living in the same time as the French, and I believe I’m on the same timeline as the ancient Egyptians from two thousand years ago.