Hobsbawm 5-8

In chapter 5 Hobsbawm discusses the proletariat class. He says that this class was growing rapidly because of the influx of agricultural workers and former skilled laborers. The advance in agricultural technology was making it impossible for a great deal of farmers to support themselves. Also with the advance of machinery the need for skilled workers was diminishing because of the machines ability to produce the same goods on a far cheaper and greater scale. He then goes on to describe the rise of socialist parties among these workers all over the world. Hobsbawm says that socialism is able to spread so rapidly because it appeals to so many on a broad scale. Because it has nothing to do with anything but class, it spans all ethnicities. They always stressed the importance above all of being proletariat. The next chapter describes the way nationalism works and spreads. He defines it as identifying yourself with your nation or nationality. He then goes into some of the problems that can arise from nationalism. One of the those such problems is that you begin to see other nations and people as menacing. It gave these people who would eventually be marching into war a sense of pride for their civic duty. The next chapter describes the bourgeoisie, how they were created, and how they were defined. The 8th chapter he describes how women's lives differed in this time and some of the advances that women were making. He also describes how the emancipation of women was a factor of many different things, one of which being the inability to afford supporting a daughter for a long time. Hobsbawm says that women at the time were beginning to make strides such as breaking into what were once male dominated professions.

I found these chapters extremely interesting especially knowing that Hobsbawm is a socialist. It was interesting to see him describe the proletariat class and the socialist movement but at the same time I was always aware what Hobsbawm's politics were as well. I also found it interesting to see how easily nationalism and patriotism can be warped and used by the political right. It's also amazing how it parallels many of the events that go on in modern times.

Chris N