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The Reactionary Mind

Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin
by Corey Robin
The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin. Oxford Univ. Oct. 2011. c.304p. index. ISBN 9780199793747. $29.95. POL SCI
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This volume is a collection of Robin's (political science, Brooklyn Coll.; Fear: The History of a Political Idea) essays, reviews, and other short works published between 2001 and 2011 in outlets such as the Nation and the London Review of Books. While his previous book was an original, extended argument about the place of fear in political theory and contemporary American culture, here Robin attempts to deliver his argument in his introduction and conclusion, which bookend pieces ranging in subject from Ayn Rand to Antonin Scalia to the Cold War in Guatemala to Abu Ghraib. The overall argument seems to be that conservatives are all basically alike; that they share an aggrieved sense of loss; that they above all else favor hierarchy in both public and private domains; that they share an affinity for violence; and that the Right often comes to resemble the Left.
VERDICT The book's brief, miscellaneous sections mean that readers may well find the arguments difficult to follow and may prefer to wait to read it in full, perhaps in Robin's next monograph. They may well also conclude that the subtitle's mention of Sarah Palin, about whom Robin says little, is a contribution from the publisher's marketing department.
Reviewed by Bob Nardini, Nashville , Oct 01, 2011
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