imagined communities by benedict anderson

i should write this down before i forget. what an engaging read! at first i struggled through chapters 1 and 2, when anderson was laying down his thesis on how populations come to form the idea that they are somehow connected, in the era of dynasties ruling over communities of different ethnicities, culture and languages; as well as those tossed far away in colonial settlements and those living under colonial yokes. it is just a critical read to examine the processes of imagining a community, how disparate individuals come to regards that they are part of something bigger - which is the nation. i like that the question is posed in a different way, and to see how nationalism has been a useful tool to connect people and to oppress people - as these methods are easily replicated (mass education, mass media, state institutions, the making of vernacular language) - which is something that individuals are often not aware of the stealth motivations behind certain policies.

it is also refreshing to read something that is not straight out of europe - that the focus shifts to nationalism in asian and south american countries. i am interested to deepen my knowledge of the impact of colonialism on south east asian countries, and this book answered some of my questions - such as racial categories that i encountered while reading farish noor's book.