“Can such goodness be profitably discarded?” Benedict Anderson and the politics of nationalism.

Wollman, Howard; Spencer, Philip

“Can such goodness be profitably discarded?” Benedict Anderson and the politics of nationalism.

Wollman, Howard; Spencer, Philip

Authors

Howard Wollman

Philip Spencer

Contributors

Alistair McCleery a.mccleery@napier.ac.uk
Editor

Benjamin Brabon
Editor

Abstract

Imagined Communities has been extraordinarily successful and one of the most (if not the most) influential books in the contemporary literature on nationalism. Anderson’s definition of the nation as an “imagined community” has become one of the most quoted and probably over-quoted phrases by both students and scholars alike. Closer scrutiny reveals a number of problems with the term and its deployment. Some of these paradoxes or contradictions have their roots, we might suggest, in Anderson’s formation, personally, politically and academically. Factors at this level provide an essential context for the critical discussion of his work.

Citation

Wollman, H., & Spencer, P. (2007). “Can such goodness be profitably discarded?” Benedict Anderson and the politics of nationalism. In A. McCleery, & B. Brabon (Eds.), The Influence of Benedict Anderson (1-20). Merchiston Press

Publication Date	2007
Deposit Date	Apr 8, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Apr 8, 2008
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Pages	1-20
Book Title	The Influence of Benedict Anderson
ISBN	978-0-9553561-1-7
Keywords	Benedict Anderson; Nationalism; Viewpoint; Development; Personal environmental influences;
Public URL	http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/2231