What does Benedict Anderson's concept imagined community mean when Essay

What does Benedict Anderson's concept imagined community mean when comparing the idea of nationalism - Essay Example The process of Anderson’s imagined community is fundamental in understanding the elements of entry and connection in nationalism. It transcends the idea that nationhood is fabricated or merely imaginary discourses. This is the reason why the concept of imagined community is very popular among social theorists. The thesis is not that explicitly constructivist but the idea captures the intensity of the concepts such as nationalism and nationhood. As an imagined community, a nation is provided a narrative meaning for individuals that constitute it by allowing the imagination of a territory of the nation without having personally to encounter it and its inhabitants. The approach does not see nationalism as a discourse of power or one of ideology but one of cultural meaning and cognition. In imagined community†, gaps could still be found – there are limitations in regard to the explanation of the elements that characterize the concept. Indeed, Anderson, himself, have l eft open several areas and questions because the subject is dynamic. However, these do not entirely undermine the potency of Anderson’s vision. All in all, Anderson’s most significant contribution here is that he was able to address all the anomalies that most theorists have created or was not able to tackle in defining nationalism.