The Reactionary Mind

Tracing conservatism back to its roots in the reaction against the French Revolution, Corey Robin argues that the right is fundamentally inspired by a hostility to emancipating the lower orders. Written by a keen, highly regarded observer of the contemporary political scene, The Reactionary Mind ranges widely, from Edmund Burke to Antonin Scalia, from John C. Calhoun to Ayn Rand. It advances the notion that all rightwing ideologies, from the eighteenth century through today, are...
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Tracing conservatism back to its roots in the reaction against the French Revolution, Corey Robin argues that the right is fundamentally inspired by a hostility to emancipating the lower orders. Written by a keen, highly regarded observer of the contemporary political scene, The Reactionary Mind ranges widely, from Edmund Burke to Antonin Scalia, from John C. Calhoun to Ayn Rand. It advances the notion that all rightwing ideologies, from the eighteenth century through today, are historical improvisations on a theme: the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back.