Benedict Andersons Ideas of Nationalism - 1858 Words

Introduction In this paper, this author will examine in light of Benedict Andersons ideas how theories of nationalism can be instructive and helpful in formulating future US foreign policy initiatives in the Middle East region. These would be policies that could simultaneously address Palestinian anger over Israeli settlements on the one hand, and Israels persistent security concerns on the other, against a backdrop of political tumult and popular uprisings in neighboring Egypt. By understanding these theories, State Department pronouncements can sell the idea of peaceful coexistence over the heads of governments and directly to the people in the street who are making policy in the wake of the Arab Spring. Analysis In the chapter on cultural roots, he offers a number of historical bases that make possible the imagining of a nation. Benedict Anderson in the chapter on cultural roots observes that a notion of nationhood arises first in the death of religious beliefs and is now a principal force in aspects of modern thought. The decline of belief in religion causes a deep void that needs to be filled for the devotee. When there is no irrevocable truth, one needs to be manufactured to supplant it. Changes in the religious community that are brought about by the decline in religious belief give rise to this nationalism along with the decline of sacred languages. This brings about the growth of secular languages so necessary in nationalism. As a result of this, theShow MoreRelatedHistory of Nationalism1041 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Nationalism The word nation has evolved from the Latin word natio whose literal meaning translates to that which has been born (Douglas) . The concept of a nation can be explained in laymans words as a group of people that have been united for a common purpose, and who share a common identity of one form or another. This common identity may be a common language, history, ethnicity, culture, etc. It sometimes can also be used to refer to people sharing common territory such as a nationRead MoreFirst Revolutionary Movement : Benedict Anderson s Novel Imagined Communities1555 Words   |  7 PagesBenedict Anderson’s book Imagined Communities develops a theoretical framework which can be applied to the formation of nation-states in the 18th and 19th centuries across the world. Anderson’s analyses of the processes that contribute to a nation’s birth reveal a constant prerequisite in every revolutionary movement: an imagined community. Imagined communities are formed by a number of people who identify with a socially constructed group, even though they have no interaction with the vast majorityRead MoreMarxism And The Communist Manifesto915 Words   |  4 Pagescommunist society. Karl Marx illustrates his ideas of Marxism in The Communist Manifesto. A point of controversy within the Communist Manifesto addresses how nationalism does not help form the communist state but rather rhetorically seeks to deny the sense of nationality. The writings of Benedict Anderson are about how the nation state manifests itself through the spread of nationalism in his book, Imagined Communities. In Anderson’s book, nationalism helps create a community and a sense of uniqueRead MoreJohn Darwin And Benedict Anderson1230 Words   |  5 PagesErnest Renan once quipped, â€Å"nations are not eternal...a European nation will probably replace them.† In response to this quotation, the works of John Darwin and Benedict Anderson will be referenced with the purpose of sh owing the contrasting views of both authors regarding the relative importance of nations and empires to the integration and disintegration of the modern world. In short, Anderson advocates for the focus on the creation of nations from a western perspective when depicting world historyRead MoreImagined Communities : Reflections On The Origin And Spread Of Nationalism1352 Words   |  6 Pages Anderson’s book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism discusses the rise of nationalism as a way in which people, through the rise of â€Å"print-capitalism† began to create â€Å"imagined communities†. In the chapter ‘The Origins of National Consciousness’ he sheds specific light on how the rise of â€Å"print-capitalism†, changes in forms of Latin, the Reformation s use of printing to reach the market that could not speak or read latin, and the unification of government andRead MoreA Virtual Community By Rene Lysloff 1505 Words   |  7 Pagesof ‘Virtual’ emphasizes how vague and complex this concept of virtual communities is and how it possesses a polysemic nature. Furthermore, the Oxford definition states that a ‘Virtual Community’ is â€Å"a community of people sharing common interests, Ideas and feelings over the Internet†. However, this definition does not consider the non-physical space at which this community materializes , ‘Cyberspace is a metaphor for this non-physical computer mediated terrain. Vangie Beal- Cyberspace-Webopedia Read MoreBenedict Anderson’S Book Is One Of The Most Cited And In1184 Words   |  5 PagesBenedict Anderson’s book is one of the most cited and in its field. â€Å"Indeed, no single phrase occurs as widely and frequently in the literature on nationalism as ‘imagined communities’. It is not always attributed to its original creator – testimony to its wide acceptance and adoption,† (Desai: 183). Imagined communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism was first published in 1983 and revised and reissued in 1991, 2006 and 2016. The book became very influential and debated afterRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel A Number Of Themes 1508 Words   |  7 Pagesby Ondaatje such as race, ethnicity, identity, history, nationalism, Western colonialism, romance, war, and the human body. The setting also shifts to different locations such as Cairo, deserts in Africa and England. The problem of identity is one of the most important issues for the post-modern epoch. The English Patient is a novel that questions the nation and nationalism that shape identities through colonial and anti-colonial nationalisms. The English Patient has the resonance of the myth ofRead MoreNationalism And The Soviet Union2509 Words   |  11 Pages As nationalism studies began to grow within multiple academic disciplines in the 20th century, there was no ignoring the flourish of national sentiments arising in Eastern Europe within the former Soviet Union. While nationalism is highly accredited to being one of the major factors for the Soviet Union’s demise, it is rarely discussed both how and why these national sentiments were able to remain during the transfer to a socialist state. Throughout complex cultural examination, it will become evidentRead MoreEssay on The Study of National Cinema1314 Words   |  6 Pagesmeans and the impacts it has on the way in which audiences perceive these types of films. One of the key areas of debate in the discussion is determining what the idea of nationalism and the nation-state mean in a world that is becoming globalised. Crofts uses Anderson’s concept of ‘imagined communities, ’ which alludes to the idea of an individual having their own image of their affinity to their nation, to build upon his notion that due to the increasing hybrdity of modern culture there is now