Imagined Communities
Benedict Anderson
8 people recommended it in 4 threads, 2013–2024.
What people on Hacker News said
Imagined Communities - the notion of a "nation" is only 300 years old and has no objective basis, only the fact that a group of people agree that it is a thing.
Overall it is worth reading Imagined Communities because of its purported cultural significance. But much of it is so garbled and unclear I’m not sure what people are taking from it, aside from the proposition that the modern nation-state was invented in the last few centuries due to modernity.
Imagined Communities - the notion of a "nation" is only 300 years old and has no objective basis, only the fact that a group of people agree that it is a thing.
Imagined Communities - the notion of a "nation" is only 300 years old and has no objective basis, only the fact that a group of people agree that it is a thing.
I especially thought its exploration of how _language_ influenced nation's was particularly enlightening. If you find the Selfish Gene to have powerful explanatory effect, I bet you will feel similarly about Imagined Communities.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? 2019 · 5 recommendations
- What's the most radical book you've read? 2024 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click? 2022 · 1 recommendation
- Ask: Read a book that changed your life? Title? 2013 · 1 recommendation