This paper is by the author of 'Imagined Communities' - a study of the meaning of community across cultures. It is a reflection on the process of carrying out research and after, what was for me, a slow start it covered many of the important ideas facing anyone trying to theorise about social phenomena: what triggers an interest in a social question? should we ask big or small questions? what influence does our own autobiography play in our work? should we aim to be interdisciplinary? do we need to speak a foreign language in order to study another culture? As you read the paper you might want to ask how far the author remained influenced by long observed gender and global imbalances in social research disciplines.

Click here for the paper:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n02/benedict-anderson/frameworks-of-comparison

How does your background and the traditions of your field influence you? Which audience do you imagine for your work?

Anderson, B. (2016) Frameworks of Comparison, London Review of Books, 38, 2, 15-18.