Robin Blackburn (born 1940) is a British historian, a former editor of '' New Left Review'' (1981–1999), and emeritus professor in the department of sociology at Essex University.

Background

Blackburn was educated at Hurstpierpoint College,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

. Between 2001 and 2010 he was distinguished visiting professor of historical studies at

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

in New York City. He is an emeritus professor in the department of sociology at Essex University. He has been a regular contributor to '' New Left Review'' since 1962. Blackburn is an author of essays on the collapse of Soviet Communism, on the "

credit crunch A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...

" of 2008, and of books on the history of slavery and on social policy. His other works, ''American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights'' (2011), ''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". He has also published histories of

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, and critiques of the " financialisation of everyday life" and of the privatisation of pension provision.

References

Selected works/articles

Robin Kelley + Robin Blackburn Oxford Amnesty Lectures

* *''Towards Socialism'', edited for the ''New Left Review'' (with

Perry Anderson Francis Rory Peregrine "Perry" Anderson (born 11 September 1938) is a British intellectual, historian and essayist. His work ranges across historical sociology, intellectual history, and cultural analysis. What unites Anderson's work is a preoc ...

, 1966) *''The Incompatibles: trade union militancy and the consensus'' (with

Alexander Cockburn Alexander Claud Cockburn ( ; 6 June 1941 – 21 July 2012) was a Scottish-born Irish-American political journalist and writer. Cockburn was brought up by British parents in Ireland, but lived and worked in the United States from 1972. Together ...

, 1967) * *''Student Power: problems, diagnosis, action'' (edited with Alexander Cockburn, 1969) *''Strategy for revolution'' ssays_by_Régis_Debray,_translated_from_the_French.html" ;"title="Régis_Debray.html" ;"title="ssays by Régis Debray">ssays by Régis Debray, translated from the French">Régis_Debray.html" ;"title="ssays by Régis Debray">ssays by Régis Debray, 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. *"Fin de Siecle" in ''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 (journal), Daedalus'', Summer 2007 * * *''The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights'' (2011), 460 pp. *''Marx and Lincoln: an Unfinished Revolution'' (2011), 220 pp. * *"Gunboat Abolitionism", ''New Left Review''. II (79). May–June 2013 *"Stuart Hall 1932–2014", ''New Left Review''. II (86). March–April 2014

External links

Robin Blackburn''Guardian'' profileEssex University homepageNew School for Social Research (New York) Homepage''
book review in ''

International Socialism Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all communist revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory that ...

'' 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 Socialism'', 2:115 (Summer 2007) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Robin 1940 births British historians Alumni of the London School of Economics Academics of the London School of Economics Historians of colonialism Historians of communism Historians of the Caribbean International Marxist Group members Deutscher Memorial Prize winners Living people The New School faculty British expatriates in the United States