Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to rethink the meanings of ‘Cultural Turn’ in Benedict Anderson’s and Anthony P. Cohen’s community theory. As virtual human relationships are developed, or contemporary thought, namely postmodernism, is spread, many theories no longer define community in terms of direct human relationships and inter-actions. Thus, Anderson points out the significance of the imagination of the members of the community, and Cohen emphasizes the symbolic construction of the community. Hence, both are regarded as post-modern community theorists. In addition, Gerard Delanty focuses on the ‘Cultural Turn’ in their theories. But should we regard both Anderson and Cohen as post-modern theorists and thus emphasize their theories’ similarities? With this question in mind, we turn to examine the differences between their theories. Initially, we find that Anderson’s theory is implicitly based on a tacit knowledge of modern, namely ‘visual metaphors’, referring to Anthony Giddens, John Urry, and Richard Rorty. We then highlight the differences between Anderson and Cohen. Moreover, we examine Cohen’s remarkable post-modern approach in light of Slavoj Žižek theory on ideology. In the course of this study, we will rethink the meanings of the ‘Cultural Turn’ in community theory and propose a new criterion for thinking about community theory and community today.
