Suchergebnisse

This is a critical discussion of Benedict Anderson's best selling and highly influential Imagined Communities (1983/1996). This book is located within the Marxist tradition of deliberation on the crucial topic of nationhood and nationalism, which were both regarded as highly problematic in relation to the prospects for proletarian revolution. The manner in which this came to be very influential outside Marxism is discussed, in particular reference to some major features of symbolic interactionism. The final portion of the article deals with the considerable limitations of Marxism in general and the wider study of nationalism. In this respect it is argued that a global vision must necessarily precede any plausible discussion of the "units" that constitute the world as a whole. This vision is demonstrated through invocation of cartography and mapmaking. These are characterized as features of global cultures and consciousness, thereby strongly criticizing the emphasis on connectivity both in the work of Anderson and of most globalization theorists.

The question of the return of religion to the study of world politics and international relations is considered in terms of the neglect of religion since the Peace of Westphalia. This neglect has largely occurred because of the primacy given to changes and events in the West, particularly since the formal separation of church and state and its imposition on or emulation by Eastern societies. The recent concern with globalization has provided the opportunity to undertake historical discussion in new perspectives which overcome the Western 'normality' of the absence of religion from Realpolitik. Moreover, it is argued that much of the neglect of religion in work on world affairs has largely been the product of the inaccurate perception of ongoing secularization. The overall discussion is framed by some objections to the limiting consequences of disciplinarity.