Body and Embodied Practices In the context of a hyper-real social atmosphere (from part 7), it is imaginable that individuals would become dislocated from their rootedness connected to any place, have difficulty indentifying themselves within a framework of physicality and feel distant … Read more about Body and Embodied Practices (final imagining ourselves)
Imitation, Simulation, and Repetition – How We Imagine Ourselves part 6
Imitation, Simulation, and Repetition Madan Surap’s Identity, Culture and the Postmodern World is the most expansive and impressive examination that I have encountered around the issues of societal conception and cultural identities. His basic assertion, which is expanded as the work progresses, … Read more about Imitation, Simulation, and Repetition – How We Imagine Ourselves part 6
How We Imagine Ourselves part 5: technology
Yesterday we looked at conceptions of a 'people' and a 'nation' through historic transitions in the past 2 centuries. More recent authors extend that concern beyond just text to the escalated pervasiveness of electronic media. Appiah frames it this way: The worldwide web of information – radio, … Read more about How We Imagine Ourselves part 5: technology
Jihad v. McWorld: How We Imagine A Nation part 4
A Second Shift In the previous 3 parts we established that a significant shift took place in the late 19th and early 20th century. This initial shift in modernity has subsequently created the possibility of a second, more contemporary, move that I want to explore. Taylor provides the context of … Read more about Jihad v. McWorld: How We Imagine A Nation part 4
How We Imagine A Nation part 3
In the shadow of the Sochi Olympics and the unfolding tension in the Ukraine, we are exploring the theme/thesis that: 'Nation' is both sovereign and transcendent. 'Nation' is both a social imaginary and an emergent reality. Benedict Anderson explains that the notion of imagined communities … Read more about How We Imagine A Nation part 3
How We Imagine A Nation part 2
In part 1 I introduced a theme/thesis for this series of posts: ‘Nation’ is both sovereign and transcendent. ‘Nation’ is both a social imaginary and an emergent reality. Charles Taylor utilizes the term ‘social imaginary’ to refer to god-like capacity described by Anderson. The term … Read more about How We Imagine A Nation part 2
How We Imagine A Nation part 1
Watching the Olympics was different for me this time. During the past four years I have been in a PhD program and have burrowed down into topics that have deeply impacted me. Within one of my cognate fields (non-core studies) I addressed the issue of nationalism and the modern imaginary. The … Read more about How We Imagine A Nation part 1