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
When did America become like God? or Who would die for their country?
Charles Taylor, in his book Modern Social Imaginaries, utilizes the term ‘social imaginary’ to refer to god-like capacity described by Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities. The term encompasses a threefold meaning: First is the way that ordinary people “imagine” their surroundings in … Read more about When did America become like God? or Who would die for their country?