Customer Reviews

Fear: The History of a Political Idea

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Throughout history, leaders have made use of fear to consolidate their power. Repressive dictators of the Stalin variety inflict fear directly on their populations, while those of the Hitler variety enforce obedience by claiming threats from "others" either inside or outside the territory. In fact, this is taking place in America right this minute, though not in such a dictatorial fashion. Here Corey Robin constructs an initially fascinating intellectual history of the use of fear by heads of state, through the works of philosophers who have explored the concept. This includes informative and occasionally revisionist analyses of the long misinterpreted or forgotten writings of Thomas Hobbes, Baron de Montesquieu, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Hannah Arendt. The first two-thirds of the book take us on an educational journey through the political fear, terror, anxiety, and totalitarianism observed upon by these philosophers.

Unfortunately this book derails in the final third, in which Robin attempts to tie these concepts into current events, but misses the boat badly. The supposedly authoritative closing chapter is an anemic summary of the lack of privacy in the workplace and corporate actions against unions. Robin postulates that this phenomenon indicates political fear amongst the workforce, but fails to adequately explain how this is so, missing the structural phenomena engendered by the ideological and economic connections between many corporate leaders and politicians. More fundamentally, Robin leans primarily toward blaming political "liberalism" for modern political fear of any stripe. I realize that Robin uses the intellectual political science definition of "liberalism" in terms of active government, which is far less accusatory than the version of that term used by politicians and media pundits. But any criticism of the equally inclusive practice of conservatism (once again, not just the pundit's definition of the term) is strangely missing from the book, even in Robin's long discussions of the (mostly) rightist-fueled McCarthyism. This indicates a creeping personal outlook into a book that started strongly and objectively.

And finally, there is a catastrophic omission here, especially since Robin claims that the book was partially inspired by 9/11 and subsequent events - the current conservative administration's use of fear, especially of terrorist attacks, to drum up support not just for war but their own policies and political plans. Regardless of whether Robin (or the reader) would be for or against current political trends, at the most basic of levels this would be an immensely illustrative example of the use of political fear that is supposed to be the reason for this book's existence. [~doomsdayer520~]

Corey Robin began this book prior to the events of 9/11 and the politics of fear that have gripped this nation, culminating in the recent presidential election. Unfortunately, this scholarly work on the history of fear as both a political idea and a reprehensible social instrument was rather late to arrive in the recent avalanche of mostly mindless books. It has yet to be recognized for its thoughtful and lucid analysis.

Well-researched and documented by nearly 50 pages of references, it's a watershed book on this subject like no other. Seldom will you find a more thought provoking book so in tune with the times.

Thought provoking and most applicable to todays times--Weapons of Mass Destruction, Terrorism,etc. Historically many political motivations are based on fear as Robin explains. A good voyage through history on Fear and how it has been used by Political figures, leaders and statesman to move the public to accept their strategies, plans and actions. Perhaps we see Robin's theory most clearly in action in this November election race.