ROBIN, Corey 1967-

PERSONAL: Born 1967. Education: Attended Jesus College, Oxford University, 1987–88; Princeton University, A.B. (with high honors), 1989; Yale University, Ph.D., 1999.

ADDRESSES: Office—Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Department of Political Science, 2900 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11210. E-mail—crobin@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

CAREER: Professor and author. Yale University, New Haven, CT, instructor and teaching assistant, 1991–99; Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, assistant professor of political science, 1999–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Wolfe Institute for the Humanities fellow, 2001–02; NYU International Center for Advanced Studies fellow, 2002–03; CUNY Graduate Center fellow, 2003–04; John F. Enders research grant, 1994; PSC CUNY research grants, 2000–04.

WRITINGS:

Fear: The History of a Political Idea, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to academic journals, including American Political Science Review, Social Research, Social Text, Theory and Event, and New Labor Forum.

SIDELIGHTS: Author Corey Robin has long studied the world of political science, first as a doctoral candidate at Yale University. He then became a professor of political science at Brooklyn College, where his specialties are political theory and American politics. Robin has spoken on political-science topics at academic conferences across the country, and is a regular contributor to many academic and trade journals.

In 2004, Robin wrote and published his first book, Fear: The History of a Political Idea. The book begins by examining conceptualizations of fear by the noted political philosophers Thomas Hobbes, Montesquieu, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Hannah Arendt, and discusses how these ideas have influenced society. Robin then examines how fear functions in modern American politics, including the era of McCarthyism and the aftermath of September 11, 2001. He also writes about how fear is used to manipulate people in the workplace.

Fear was generally met with praise by critics. Many reviewers appreciated Robin's use of both background philosophies and modern examples to create a thorough analysis of his subject. The book is "a brilliant synthesis of historical perspective and the critically revealing story," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Others found Robin's analysis of past political theorists to be his most important contribution to the work on this topic. "Robin delivers trenchant and original critiques of writers who deal with fear," commented David Greenberg in a review for the Chicago Tribune.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 9, 2005, David Greenberg, "An Uneven Look at the Use of Fear as a Political Tool," p. 7.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2004, review of Fear: The History of a Political Idea, p. 732.

Library Journal, October 15, 2004, Maria C. Bagshaw, review of Fear, p. 76.

New Statesman, November 15, 2004, Frank Furedi, "Dangerous State," p. 53.

New York Times Book Review, November 28, 2004, Michael Kimmage, review of Fear, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly, August 23, 2004, review of Fear, p. 47.

ONLINE

Brooklyn College, City University of New York Web site, http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ (February 10, 2005), "Corey Robin."

Truthout.org, http://www.truthout.org/ (February 10, 2005), interview with Robin.