Imagined Communities and Self-identity: An Exploratory Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

The proliferation of quantitative studies of national and other macro-level we-images 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 of (i) the plural sources, multi-dimensional nature and divisible character of self-identity, and (ii) the complex ways in which different layers of self-identity interlock to shape social attitudes.