Imagined Community: The Origin and Spread of Nationalism

A must-read classic in the study of nationalism

Since its publication in 1983, Imagined Communities has not only revolutionized academic thinking about nations and nationalism, but has also had a profound impact across the humanities and social sciences. Besides being translated into thirty-one languages, it has even become a near-textbook, far exceeding the author's expectations.

Anderson explores the origins of nationalism from the perspective of changes in cultural connotations and the rise of print capitalism, and analyzes the centuries-long process of nationalism's birth in the Americas, its appropriation by mass movements in Europe, its absorption by imperial regimes, and the anti-imperialist struggle in Asia and Africa using nationalism as a call.

This revised Chinese edition includes a new chapter added by Anderson in 2006, which briefly reviews the impact of the book and explores its publication and response around the world. It also includes two 2003 seminar lectures by the author on the situation in Taiwan, as well as the translator's affectionate interview with this academic master.

Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson

Aaron L. Binenjorb Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, he is a world-renowned scholar of Southeast Asian studies. In addition to Imagined Communities, his other books include The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World, Java in a Time of Revolution , Literature and Politics in Siam in the American Era, Language and Power: Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia, and Under Three Flags : Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination.

Wu Ruiren

A native of Taoyuan, Taiwan, he graduated from the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University and holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He was formerly a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy at Waseda University in Japan. He is currently an Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica. He specializes in comparative politics (nationalism, colonialism, state formation, and transitional justice), political philosophy, and the history of modern Taiwanese and Japanese political and ideological thought. He is currently conducting research on Taiwan's left-wing tradition.

The Weight of Identity: An Introduction to Imagined Communities / Wu Ruiren

Preface to the Second Edition Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Cultural Roots Chapter 3 The Origins of National Consciousness Chapter 4 Pioneers of European Diaspora Chapter 5 Old Languages, New Models Chapter 6 Official Nationalism and Imperialism Chapter 7 The Last Wave Chapter 8 Patriotism and Racism Chapter 9 The Angel of History Chapter 10 Censuses, Maps, and Museums Chapter 11 Memory and Forgetting Travel and Transportation: A Geographical Biography of Imagined Communities

Appendix Empire / From Bangkok, Taiwan: A Time of Darkness, a Time of Light / Wu Ruiren

Bibliographic Index