The reactionary mind: conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin

Inhaltsverzeichnis: Preface to the Second Edition -- Part 1. Reaction: A Primer -- The private life of power -- On counterrevolution -- The soul of violence -- Part 2. Europe's Old Regimes -- The first counterrevolutionary -- Burke's market value -- In Nietzsche's margins -- Part 3. American Vistas -- Metaphysics and chewing gum -- The prince as pariah -- Remembrance of empires past -- Affirmative action baby -- A show about nothing

In this book, political scientist Corey Robin makes a strikingly bold claim about the right's political and intellectual foundations. He contends that from the 18th century through today, the right has been united by a defense of inequality and privilege and by a deep hostility to all forms of progressive politics

In this book, political scientist Corey Robin makes a strikingly bold claim about the right's political and intellectual foundations. He contends that from the 18th century through today, the right has been united by a defense of inequality and privilege and by a deep hostility to all forms of progressive politics.

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.