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Imagined Communities and Self-Identity: An Exploratory Quantitative Analysis

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 13:28 authored by Phillips, T
The proliferation of quantitative studies of national and other macro-level weimages points to a growing sociological interest in the contribution of imagined communities to self-identity. However, these studies have tended to present an oversimplified picture of this cultural phenomenon, relying on essentialist, one-dimensional and non-divisible conceptions of the social self, It is the contention of this paper that important clues for clarifying the less developed approaches to self-identity that feature in such quantitative work can be found in Benedict Anderson's landmark analysis of imagined communities. Anderson's treatment of this topic is used to sensitize a survey analysis of self-identification with large-scale geographic units among contemporary Australians. Findings from the investigation highlight a neglect in emerging quantitative research on self-attachment to imagined communities o: (:) the plural sources, multi-dimensional nature and divisible character of self-identity, and (i.) the complex ways in which different layers of self-identity interlock to shape social attitudes.

History

Publication title

Sociology

Volume

36

Pagination

597-617

ISSN

0038-0385

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Sage Publications

Place of publication

London, United Kingdom

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Citizenship and national identity

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