Imagined nation
Reflect on Benedict Anderson’s (1991) concept of an ‘imagined community’. How does this concept apply to the UK?
This essay deals with the concept of an ‘Imagined Community’ given by Benedict Anderson in 1991, according to him ‘A nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion’. There are different factors in society that help to define the common features of a nation such as history, territory, language, government and laws, symbols or habits. Those factors can be analysed to obtain what are the common features that define the United Kingdom as a nation. This essay covers the definition of what is understood as British, the monarchy and the Union Jack as national symbols, the different nations of the United kingdom and finally immigration and its consequences.
To begin with is essential to give a definition of Britishness as a concept, is used to define characteristics Britain, or of a person, value or institution in the United Kingdom. It is a complex and wide concept that has been discussed by scholars for years, some of the definitions argue that it is a sense of unity shown in different aspects.
Britishness is an arduous word to define nevertheless there are several opinions not only about its definition but about the discussion surrounding the concept. Robbins (1997) examines the historical roots of British national identity, arguing that Britishness can only be understood in relation to the continued existence of local and ethnic identities, the development of overarching institutions, the historical evolution of the idea of "Britain," and Britain 's relationship to the wider world. Furthermore, for Bradley (2007) there are three ways of defining Britishness, through ancestry, civic identity and through values and customs. On the other hand he argues that the concept of “Britishness” is
This essay deals with the concept of an ‘Imagined Community’ given by Benedict Anderson in 1991, according to him ‘A nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion’. There are different factors in society that help to define the common features of a nation such as history, territory, language, government and laws, symbols or habits. Those factors can be analysed to obtain what are the common features that define the United Kingdom as a nation. This essay covers the definition of what is understood as British, the monarchy and the Union Jack as national symbols, the different nations of the United kingdom and finally immigration and its consequences.
To begin with is essential to give a definition of Britishness as a concept, is used to define characteristics Britain, or of a person, value or institution in the United Kingdom. It is a complex and wide concept that has been discussed by scholars for years, some of the definitions argue that it is a sense of unity shown in different aspects.
Britishness is an arduous word to define nevertheless there are several opinions not only about its definition but about the discussion surrounding the concept. Robbins (1997) examines the historical roots of British national identity, arguing that Britishness can only be understood in relation to the continued existence of local and ethnic identities, the development of overarching institutions, the historical evolution of the idea of "Britain," and Britain 's relationship to the wider world. Furthermore, for Bradley (2007) there are three ways of defining Britishness, through ancestry, civic identity and through values and customs. On the other hand he argues that the concept of “Britishness” is
Bibliography: Bradley, Ian (2007) Believing in Britain. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. Bradshaw, B. and Roberts, P. (1998) British Consciousness and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Claydon Tony (1999) The Historical Journal, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Jun., 1999), pp. 585-586 Julios, Cristina (2008) Contemporary British Identity. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Parekh, B. (2000) Defining British National Identity. The Political Quarterly, 71: 4–14. Robbins, Keith (1997) Great Britain: Identities, Institutions and the Idea of Britishness Wills, M. (2002) ‘What Defines British Values?’. Reclaiming Britishness. Secondary reading: Davies, Norman (1999). The Isles: A History O´Driscol, James (2009) Britain for Learners of English.