Grounds of Comparison: Around the Work of Benedict Anderson

Benedict Anderson is best known for his book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism , one of the most influential works of the last twenty years. Read both by social scientists and humanists, Anderson has thought anew such questions as why people love and die for nations, how religious faith became a territorial issue, the interrelation of capitalism and print, and how forms of nationalism have been adapted and transformed in different situations. This volume includes essays on Anderson’s themes and ideas by such scholars as Andrew Parker, Lydia Liu, Doris Sommer, Harry Harootunian, Partha Chatterjee, David Hollinger, and Marc Redfield. Of particular interest is a substantial new essay by Benedict Anderson, written for this volume.