Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm
#### A Life of Passionate Scholarship
Full Name and Common Aliases
Eric John Hobsbawm was born on June 9, 1917, in Alexandria, Egypt. He is commonly known by his initials, E.J.H.
Birth and Death Dates
June 9, 1917 – October 1, 2012
Nationality and Profession(s)
British historian, Marxist scholar, and journalist of Austro-Hungarian descent
Early Life and Background
Growing up in an intellectual family, Hobsbawm was raised with a strong emphasis on education. His parents were both from Jewish families that had fled Eastern Europe to escape persecution. They settled in the UK, where Eric developed a passion for history, politics, and culture. He attended Cambridge University, where he studied economics but soon became disillusioned with its narrow focus.
Major Accomplishments
Hobsbawm's academic career spanned over six decades, during which he wrote influential works on modern European history, sociology, and cultural studies. Some of his notable achievements include:
The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848 (1957)
The Age of Capital: 1848-1875 (1975)
The Age of Empire: 1875-1914 (1987)
He also served as a key figure in the British Communist Party and was an outspoken advocate for social justice.
Notable Works or Actions
Hobsbawm's extensive writings explored the intersection of politics, culture, and economics. Some notable works include:
How to Change the World: Tales from the Communist International 1919-1933 (2011) - a comprehensive study on the early years of communism
* The Invention of Tradition (1983) - co-authored with Terence Ranger, this book explores how traditions are created and used as social control mechanisms
He was also an avid participant in debates about socialism, democracy, and human rights.
Impact and Legacy
Hobsbawm's work has had a lasting impact on modern historiography. His emphasis on the importance of material conditions and class struggle in shaping historical events influenced generations of historians.
His commitment to social justice and his willingness to challenge established narratives have made him an inspiration for scholars, activists, and anyone interested in understanding the complexities of human society.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Hobsbawm's intellectual rigor, passion for social change, and ability to engage with a broad audience have cemented his place as one of the most influential historians of the 20th century. His writings continue to be widely read and quoted today, serving as a testament to the enduring power of his ideas.
Through his work, Hobsbawm has shown that history can be both informative and thought-provoking, encouraging readers to think critically about the world they live in and the societies they want to build.
Quotes by Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm's insights on:
Telephone and telegraph were better means of communication than the holy man’s telepathy.
It seems that American patriotism measures itself against an outcast group. The right Americans are the right Americans because they’re not like the wrong Americans, who are not really Americans.
The most lasting and universal consequence of the French revolution is the metric system.
Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan are to heroin-addicts: we supply the essential raw material for the market.
The only certain thing about the future is that it will surprise even those who have seen furthest into it.
Impotence therefore faces both those who believe in what amounts to a pure, stateless, market capitalism, a sort of international bourgeois anarchism, and those who believe in a planned socialism uncontaminated by private profit-seeking. Both are bankrupt. The future, like the present and the past, belongs to mixed economies in which public and private are braided together in one way or another. But how? That is the problem for everybody today, but especially for people on the left.
The greatest cruelties of our century have been the impersonal cruelties of remote decision, of system and routine, especially when they could be justified as regrettable operational necessity.
Xenophobia looks like becoming the mass ideology of the 20th-century fin-de-siecle .
The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people.
Many years later, another Marxian rephrased this as the choice between socialism and barbarity. Which of these will prevail is a question which the twenty-first century must be left to answer.