History:a challenging social science!

Some thoughts on the history of our times

Eric Hobsbawm

Eric Hobsbawam, the Marxist historian and yet otherwise a fine historically- insightful thinker and writer of some of the widely read volumes spanning almost the modern Europe  calls the 20th  century as the “short 20th century”. (A history of the world, 1914 - 1991) And a”bloody century” with two world  wars and too many dictators as human monsters: Lenin, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and then Mao, who among themselves helped to butcher  a huge humanity of  innocent people! May be, because of so much brutalities he traces the  birth of the 20th century from the beginning of the first world war, that is from 1914. And the end of it with the fall of  Communism in 1989.

Yes, the old world, the old world order of imperial powers, most notably the Austro-Hungarian Empire that lasted for nearly four centuries effectively ended when its heir was assassinated by a Serb nationalist youth in 1914.
The subject of the origins and the consequences of the First World War had been widely written about and debated. Read the rest of this entry »

Class divisions in education: we are just silent!

Equality is a great illusion!

In India we have been fed by our leaders from the Freedom struggle days  that we will create a democracy and there will be equality of  opportunities for all. Yes, our Constitution is a great document and it had proved its worth. We have been a stable democracy and the poor had improved their lot. Our society is secular where the largest number of Muslim population live in harmony.

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