Benedict Anderson on Nationalism and Racism: A Critique.
<p>Political Scientist Benedict Anderson has become one of the most influential thinkers in the social sciences. His 1983 book “Imagined Communities” became a seminal work in sociology and anthropology, helping re-define our understanding of nationalism as a socially constructed product of Modernity, through which developments in print media and shared vernacular led to a sense of belonging and similarity between individuals who would probably never meet. Thus, nations and nationalisms were imagined into existence.</p>
<p>This marked a stark shift in thinking by contrast to the previously popularly held view of primordialsm and socio-biology, which saw nationalism and nations as products of natural biology which have existed throughout the course of human history. Whilst Anderson’s approach was certainly groundbreaking, when reading his chapter on “Patriotism and Racism”, his denial of a link or relationship between racism and nationalism seems to contradict his most valuable insights on the imagined nature of nationalism.</p>
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