Imagination functions both as an open-ended process and a fixed outcome

Evidence

A relevant critique raised by Partha Chatterjee (1991) is that although Imagined Communities highlights the outside domain, the “material” of the imagined community, it ignores the inside domain, the “spiritual” aspect of nation-­state capitalism. … By contrast, imagination is an act from which new meanings, rationalities, myths, narratives, and images of capitalism may always spring forth. As I have shown in my previous work, imagination’s complex role has to be understood both as a process (that is, open ended, ongoing, and therefore elusive) and as an outcome (that is, fixed, temporally distinct, and hence more easily legible) (Komporozos-­Athanasiou 2020; Komporozos-­Athanasiou and Fotaki 2015, 2020). — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 155

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines imagination along two axes — process (elusive, ongoing) versus outcome (fixed, legible) — a framework the book will deploy.
• XREF: Relates to Anderson’s Imagined Communities and Chatterjee’s critique; connects to the reader’s ongoing concern with how speculation reshapes collective imagination. — connects to: Imagination precedes and produces reality rather than reflecting it — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 152; Imagination actively creates worlds rather than merely imitating an external reality — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 238; Imagination gives way to a verification mechanism checking accuracy against reality. (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Imagination precedes and produces reality rather than reflecting it #qualifies (0.80) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 152
• Imagination actively creates worlds rather than merely imitating an external reality #qualifies (0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 238
• Imagination gives way to a verification mechanism checking accuracy against reality. #complicates (0.75)
• Fantasy thinking substitutes passive imagined futures for real present transformation #qualifies (0.75)
• Daydreaming substitutes fantasy for the disciplined transformation of present reality #qualifies (0.75)
• The speculative imagination keeps the future open to change by collectively owning its indeterminacy #qualifies (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 249