Book•
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
01 Jan 1983-
TL;DR: In this paper, Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the 'imagined communities' of nationality and explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialisation of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time.
Abstract: What makes people love and die for nations, as well as hate and kill in their name? While many studies have been written on nationalist political movements, the sense of nationality - the personal and cultural feeling of belonging to the nation - has not received proportionate attention. In this widely acclaimed work, Benedict Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the 'imagined communities' of nationality. Anderson explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialisation of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time. He shows how an originary nationalism born in the Americas was modularly adopted by popular movements in Europe, by the imperialist powers, and by the anti-imperialist resistances in Asia and Africa. This revised edition includes two new chapters, one of which discusses the complex role of the colonialist state's mindset in the development of Third World nationalism, while the other analyses the processes by which all over the world, nations came to imagine themselves as old.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the manifestations of this move in four key political arenas: decentralised service delivery, participatory development, social capital formation and local development, and collective actions for "radical democracy".
Abstract: Recent discussions in development have moved away from holistic theorisation towards more localised, empirical and inductive approaches. In development practice there has been a parallel move towards local ‘participation’ and ‘empowerment’, which has produced, albeit with very different agendas, a high level of agreement between actors and institutions of the ‘new’ Left and the ‘new’ Right. This paper examines the manifestations of this move in four key political arenas: decentralised service delivery, participatory development, social capital formation and local development, and collective actions for ‘radical democracy’. We argue that, by focusing so heavily on ‘the local’, the see manifestations tend to underplay both local inequalities and power relations as well as national and transnational economic and political forces. Following from this, we advocate a stronger emphasis on the politics of the local, ie on the political use of ‘the local’ by hegemonic and counter-hegemonic interests.
997 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how certain populations have achieved low mortality and whether these methods might be utilized by other poor populations and examined relative to income levels for Third World countries classified as either superior health achievers or poor health achiever; other variables examined are population density family planning use religion and educational level.
Abstract: This paper examines how certain populations have achieved low mortality and whether these methods might be utilized by other poor populations. Mortality levels are examined relative to income levels for Third World countries classified as either superior health achievers or poor health achievers; other variables examined are population density family planning use religion and educational level. 3 societies with exceptionally low mortality are Sri Lanka Kerala India) and Costa Rica; these 3 settings are examples of successful "breakthrough" health programs. Similarities among the 3 include a substantial degree of female autonomy dedication to education an open political system a largely civilian society with no rigid class structure and a history of egalitarianism and radicalism. All 3 populations are small; dense settlement and widely diffused commercial farming in rural areas demonstrated in these 3 regions appear to favor reduction in rural-urban mortality levels. Breakthrough periods are identified for each of the societies when provision of health services was implemented on a large scale. In rural areas the primary health center is a base for midwives and health auxiliaries and household visits are an integral part of the program. By substantially raising the proportion of budgetary allocations to education and health (particularly emphasizing education for women) other countries can advance towards low mortality levels. Though the characteristics of the low mortality societies have long historical antecedents effective substitution for this historical experience has been made by some socialist countries and other substitutions are possible in the rest of the Third World. Religion is shown to have been associated with cultures that in some cases have retarded mortality decline and in others assisted it.
932 citations
TL;DR: The argument of ethnic cleansing in former times is discussed in this article, where two versions of 'we, the people' are presented. But the argument is not applicable to the current world.
Abstract: 1. The argument 2. Ethnic cleansing in former times 3. Two versions of 'we, the people' 4. Genocidal democracies in the New World 5. Armenia, I: into the danger zone 6. Armenia, II: genocide 7. Nazis, I: radicalization 8. Nazis, II: fifteen hundred perpetrators 9. Nazis, III: genocidal careers 10. Germany's allies and auxiliaries 11. Communist cleansing: Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot 12. Yugoslavia, I: into the danger zone 13. Yugoslavia, II: murderous cleansing 14. Rwanda, I: into the danger zone 15. Rwanda, II: genocide 16. Counterfactual cases: India and Indonesia 17. Combating ethnic cleansing in the world today.
930 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that documents such as passports, internal passports and related mechanisms have been crucial in making distinctions between citizens and non-citizens and examine how the concept of citizenship has been used to delineate rights and penalties regarding property, liberty, taxes and welfare.
Abstract: In order to distinguish between those who may and may not enter or leave, states everywhere have developed extensive systems of identification, central to which is the passport. This innovative book argues that documents such as passports, internal passports and related mechanisms have been crucial in making distinctions between citizens and non-citizens. It examines how the concept of citizenship has been used to delineate rights and penalties regarding property, liberty, taxes and welfare. It focuses on the US and Western Europe, moving from revolutionary France to the Napoleonic era, the American Civil War, the British industrial revolution, pre-World War I Italy, the reign of Germany's Third Reich and beyond. This innovative study combines theory and empirical data in questioning how and why states have established the exclusive right to authorize and regulate the movement of people.
911 citations