Robin Blackburn
Encyclopedia
Robin Blackburn is a British socialist historian, a former editor of New Left Review
(1981-99), an author of essays on Marx, capitalism and socialism, and of books on the history of slavery and on social policy. His most celebrated works, The Making of New World Slavery: from the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (1997) and The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776-1848 (1988) offer an account of the rise and fall of colonial slavery in the Americas, contributing to the emerging field of 'Atlantic history'. Blackburn has also published critiques of the 'financialisation of everyday life' and of the privatization of pension provision. He was educated at Oxford
and the LSE
. A former member of the International Marxist Group
, he is currently Professor of Sociology at Essex University
and between 2001 and 2009 has been Distinguished Visiting Professor of Historical Studies at The New School
in New York City. He has been a regular contributor to New Left Review since 1962.
New Left Review
New Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
(1981-99), an author of essays on Marx, capitalism and socialism, and of books on the history of slavery and on social policy. His most celebrated works, The Making of New World Slavery: from the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (1997) and The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776-1848 (1988) offer an account of the rise and fall of colonial slavery in the Americas, contributing to the emerging field of 'Atlantic history'. Blackburn has also published critiques of the 'financialisation of everyday life' and of the privatization of pension provision. He was educated at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and the LSE
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. A former member of the International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
, he is currently Professor of Sociology at Essex University
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
and between 2001 and 2009 has been Distinguished Visiting Professor of Historical Studies at The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in New York City. He has been a regular contributor to New Left Review since 1962.
Selected works/articles
- Prologue to the Cuban Revolution New Left Review 21 (1963)
- Towards Socialism edited for the "New Left Review" (with Perry Anderson) (1966)
- The Incompatibles : trade union militancy and the consensus (with Alexander Cockburn)(1967)
- Student Power : problems, diagnosis, action (edited with Alexander Cockburn (1969)
- Strategy for revolution [essays by Régis DebrayRégis DebrayJules Régis Debray is a French intellectual, journalist, government official and professor. He is known for his theorization of mediology, a critical theory of the long-term transmission of cultural meaning in human society; and for having fought in 1967 with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara in...
translated from the French](editor) (1970) - Ideology in Social Science : readings in critical social theory (editor) (1972)
- Explosion in a Subcontinent : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Ceylon (editor) (1975)
- Revolution and Class Struggle : a reader in Marxist politics (editor) (1977)
- The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776-1848 (1988) 550 pp
- After the Fall : the failure of communism and the future of socialism (editor) (1991)
- The Making of New World slavery : from the baroque to the modern, 1492-1800 (1997)600 pp
- Banking on Death: Or, Investing in Life — The History and Future of Pensions (2002)500 pp
- Haiti, Slavery and the Age of the Democratic Revolution, William and Mary Quarterly 2006
- Age Shock: How Finance Is Failing Us (2006) 280 pp
- Economic Democracy: Meaningful, Desirable, Feasible?, Daedalus, Summer 2007
- Proposal for a Global Pension, New Left Review, no 48, Nov-Dec 2007
- The Credit Crunch, New Left Review, no 50, Mar-Apr 2008.
External links
- Homepage
- Guardian profile
- John Lennon interview (with Tariq AliTariq AliTariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
) (1971) - Essex University homepage
- New School for Social Research (New York) Homepage
- Class forces in the Cuban Revolution book review in International Socialism 2:9, (1980)
- Reviewing the millennia, book review in International Socialism, 2:86 (Spring 2000)
- "What really ended slavery?", an interview with Blackburn in International SocialismInternational Socialism (journal)International Socialism is a British-based quarterly magazine of socialist theory published by the Socialist Workers Party. It is currently edited by Alex Callinicos, who took over after the death of Chris Harman in November 2009....
, 2:115 (summer 2007)