Chapter 6

In this week’s readings, Hobsbawn discussed the come up of nationalism and the role change of women in society. Nationalism first began to rise at the end of the 19th century. Following the rise of the working class, politics was not solely run by upper class individuals. With other class’s voice being heard, people began to identify with their nation, causing nationalism. A lot of the early nationalism was centered on radical and liberal movements of the French Revolution.

With nationalism came advances in technology and education. The focus on education, lead to more people being able to read and write. This was very important in terms of communication and literature.

As I mentioned before Hobsbawn talked about the changing role of women in this time period. Women no longer were just seen as stay at home moms, who cooked, cleaned and left the money making to men. Women got jobs of their own and took on a totally role in society. With these changes came other changes, such as the decline in birth rates. Women weren’t marrying as early, most likely because they had more control of their lives. Women also fought for rights. One of the main rights fought for, was the right to vote.

I found the section interesting about women’s role change in society, because I have a hard time visualizing a society where women don’t have the freedom or rights that they have now. So it is cool to me to read about how these changes came about.

-Justin Lovett