Fear: The History of a Political Idea

328 Pages·2006·3.88 MB·English

by  Corey Robin

FEAR
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F E A R

The History of a Political Idea

corey robin
3

2004
3
Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2004 by Corey Robin
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004
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www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robin, Corey, 1967–
Fear: the history of a political idea / by Corey Robin.
p. cm.
ISBN 0–19–515702–8
1. Political theory.
2. Fear—Political aspects.
I. Title.
JA74.5R48 2004
320'.01'9—dc22 2004006813
Design and composition by Susan Day
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
to my parents
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contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1

part 1 history of an idea 27
1 Fear 31

2 Terror 51

3 Anxiety 73
4 Total Terror 95
5 Remains of the Day 131
part 2 fear, american style 161
6 Sentimental Educations 167
7 Divisions of Labor 199
8 Upstairs, Downstairs 227
Conclusion: Liberalism Agonistes 249
Notes 253
Index 303
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acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following friends, colleagues, teachers, and editors,
who read and commented upon this manuscript, whether in draft, paper, or
article form: Bruce Ackerman, Moustafa Bayoumi, Roger Boesche, Shelley
Burtt, Josh Cohen, Peter Cole, Michael Denning, Jack Diggins, Tom Dumm,
Sam Farber, Steve Fraser, Josh Freeman, Paul Frymer, Emily Gordon, Greg
Grandin, Nancy Grey, Michael Hardt, Adina Hoffman, David Hughes, Judy
Hughes, Allen Hunter, Victoria Kahn, Ariel Kaminer, Rebecca Karl, Scott
James, David Johnston, Gordon Lafer, Jackson Lears, Chris Lehmann, Mark
Levinson, Penny Lewis, Arien Mack, Ian Malcolm, Arno Mayer, David May-
hew, Kirstie McClure, John McCormick, John Medeiras, Laurie Muchnick,
Sankar Muthu, Molly Nolan, Karen Orren, Christian Parenti, Kim Phillips-
Fein, Francis Fox Piven, Robert Potts, Mel Richter, Jessica Robin, Andy Sabl,
Scott Saul, Jim Scott, Ellen Schrecker, Jenny Schuessler, Alex Star, Michelle
Stephens, Laura Tanenbaum, Rob Tempio, Peter Terzian, Jeanne Theoharis,
Roy Tsao, Michael Walzer, Kathi Weeks, Eve Weinbaum, Keith Whittington,
Daniel Wilkinson, Richard Wolin, Brian Young, and Marilyn Young. Special
thanks to Rogers Smith, my dissertation advisor, to Tim Bartlett, my editor at
Oxford University Press, and to Barbara Fillon, Peter Harper, and Catherine
Humphries at Oxford University Press. Generous funding for the comple-
tion of this project was provided by the International Center for Advanced
Studies of New York University; the Wolfe Institute for the Humanities at
Brooklyn College; the Professional Staff Congress of the City University of
New York; and the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at the Graduate
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Center of the City University of New York. Finally, a word of thanks to the
students, faculty, and staff of Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of
the City University of New York; to Jonathan Stein, who long ago asked me
what was so great about Hobbes since “everything with him is fear”; to John
Dunn, who first suggested that I shouldn’t read Hobbes as if he were
Tocqueville; and to my family, for everything.
Portions of this book have appeared elsewhere. Many thanks to the relevant
publisher for allowing me to use material from the following:
“Remembrance of Empires Past: 9/11 and the End of the Cold War.” In
Cold War Triumphalism: The Misuse of History After the Fall of Communism,
ed. Ellen Schrecker (New York: The New Press, 2004), pp. 274–97.
“Fear, American Style: Civil Liberty After 9/11.” In Implicating Empire:
Globalization & Resistance in the 21st Century World Order, ed. Stanley
Aronowitz and Heather Gautney (New York: Basic Books, 2003), pp. 47–64.
“Lavatory and Liberty: The Secret History of the Bathroom Break.” Boston
Globe(September 29, 2002), p. D1.
“Closet-Case Studies.” New York Times Magazine (December 16, 2001),
pp. 23–24.
“Denied the Fruits of Their Labors.” Dissent(Fall 2001), pp. 131–35.
“Fear: A Genealogy of Morals.” Social Research 67 (Winter 2000), pp.
1085–1115.
“Reflections on Fear: Montesquieu in Retrieval.” American Political Sci-
ence Review94 (June 2000), pp. 347–60.
“Why Do Opposites Attract? Fear and Freedom in the Modern Political
Imagination.” In Fear Itself: Enemies Real and Imagined, ed. Nancy L. Schultz
(West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1999).