Professor Robin Blackburn
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Email
roblack@essex.ac.uk -
Location
5.404, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Studied and taught Sociology at the LSE and Oxford in the sixties, with interests focusing on historical sociology, critical social theory, modern capitalism and the third world, publishing studies of the Cuban revolution and editing a survey of critical approaches, Ideology in Social Science (1972). Subsequent work explores the institutional shaping of the market, the dynamic of capitalist development, and the historical selection of structures of power and ideology. One strand of this work analyses the dynamics of slavery, slave resistance and anti-slavery, embodied in two books The Making of New World Slavery: from the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (1997) and The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776-1848 (1988). These works look at the formation of racial ideologies and national identities in a world beset by rivalry and in transition to modernity. The other strand concerns 20th century attempts to suppress or control the market, and the workings of today's financial institutions, the first leading to 'Fin de Siècle', a long essay on the fall of Communism published in After the Fall (1992), and the second a study entitled 'The New Collectivism' published in the January/February 1999 issue of New Left Review, which subsequently form the basis of 'Banking and Death, or Investing in Life'(2002). Recent academic appointments have been at New School for Social Research (New York), King's College, Cambridge (1998-9), FLACSO (Latin American Social Science Faculty), Quito, Ecuador (1994-5) and the Woodrow Wilson Centre, Washington D.C., US (1993-4). Member of the editorial committee of New Left Review since 1962 and Editor (1981-99); consulting editor, Verso since 1970.
Qualifications
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BSc (Econ) London
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Race and Slavery
Development of Capitalism
Historical Sociology
Globalisation
Political Economy of pension funds
Teaching and supervision
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Sociology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 15/5/2013
Publications
Journal articles (32)
Blackburn, R., (2014). Gunboat Abolitionism. New Left Review. 87, 143-152
Blackburn, R., (2014). Obituary - Stuart Hall 1932-2014. New Left Review (86)
Blackburn, R., (2013). Finance for Anarchists: David Graeber’s “Debt". New Left Review. 79, 141-150
Blackburn, R., (2011). Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln: A Curious Convergence. Historical Materialism. 19 (4), 99-128
Blackburn, R., (2011). The Case for a Global Pension and Youth Grant. Basic Income Studies. 6 (1)
Blackburn, R., (2011). CRISIS 2.0. New Left Review (72), 33-62
Blackburn, R., (2010). State of the union marx and america's unfinished revolution. New Left Review (61), 153-174
Blackburn, R., (2010). Socialism and the current crisis. Dissent (SUMMER)
Blackburn, R., (2009). Value theory and the Chinese worker. New Left Review (56), 128-135
Blackburn, R., (2008). The subprime crisis. New Left Review (50), 63-106
Blackburn, R., (2008). For a social bailout. Nation. 286 (14), 4-6
Blackburn, R., (2007). Case for a global pension and youth grant. Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (29), 3023-3026
Blackburn, R., (2007). How to Tax the Rich: And Live Happily Ever After. Dissent. 54 (3), 63-67
Blackburn, R., (2007). Economic democracy: meaningful, desirable, feasible?. Daedalus. 136 (3), 36-45
Blackburn, R., (2007). A global pension plan. New Left Review (47), 71-92
Blackburn, R., (2007). How to Tax the rich-and live happily ever after. Dissent (SUMMER)
Blackburn, R., (2006). Finance and the Fourth Dimension. New Left Review. 39 (39), 39-72
Blackburn, R., (2006). The Global Pension Crisis: From Gray Capitalism to Responsible Accumulation. Politics & Society. 34 (2), 135-186
Blackburn, R., (2006). Haiti, slavery, and the age of the democratic revolution. William and Mary Quarterly. 63 (4), 643-674
Blackburn, R., (2005). Imperial Margarine. New Left Review. 35
Blackburn, R., (2005). Capital and Social Europe. New Left Review. 34 (34), 87-112
Blackburn, R., (2005). Creed and Conquest. New Left Review. 32
Blackburn, R., (2005). Emancipation & empire, from Cromwell to Karl Rove. Daedalus. 134 (2), 72-87
BLACKBURN, R., (2005). Pensions: Challenges and Choices. The First Report of the Pension Commission. The Political Quarterly. 76 (2), 288-294
Blackburn, R., (2004). When I?m 65. London Review of Books. 26 (4), 32-34
Blackburn, R., (2004). How to rescue a failing pension regime: the British case. New Political Economy. 9 (4), 559-579
Blackburn, R., (2002). Symptoms of Euro-Denial. New Left Review. 18
Blackburn, R., (2002). The Enron debacle and the pension crisis. New Left Review. 14 (14), 26-51
Blackburn, R., (2000). Putting the hammer down on Cuba. New Left Review. 4 (4), 5-35
Blackburn, R., (1999). The new collectivism: Pension reform, grey capitalism and complex socialism. New Left Review (233), 3-64
Blackburn, R., (1999). Kosovo: The war of NATO expansion. New Left Review (235), 107-123
Blackburn, R., (1997). Reflections on Blair's Velvet Revolution. New Left Review (223), 3-16
Books (8)
Blackburn, R., (2011). The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights. Verso. 9781844675692
Blackburn, R., (2011). An Unfinished Revolution: Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln. Verso. 9781844677221
Blackburn, R., (2011). Revolution And Emancipation: The Role Of Abolitionism In Ending Slavery In The Americas. BRILL. 9789004188532
Blackburn, R., (2006). Age shock : how finance is failing us. Verso. 9781844670130
Morris, L., (2006). Rights: Sociological perspectives. Routledge. 9780415355216
Blackburn, R., (2003). Banking on Death. Verso. 1859847951
Blackburn, R., (1988). The overthrow of colonial slavery, 1776-1848. Verso. 0860919013
Blackburn, R., (1977). The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800. Verso. 1859848907
Book chapters (13)
Blackburn, R., (2017). Why the Second Slavery?. In: Slavery and Historical Capitalism during the Nineteenth Century. Editors: Tomich, D., . Lexington Books. 1- 38. 9781498565844
Blackburn, R., (2017). Debates on Slavery, Capitalism and Race, New and Old. In: Feminism, Capitalism, and Critique Essays in Honor of Nancy Fraser. Editors: Bargu, B. and Bottici, C., . Palgrave McMillan. 43- 65. 978-3319523859
Blackburn, R., (2016). Labour Struggles to Renew Itself: From Miliband to Corbyn. In: Class, Sex and Revolutions: Göran Therborn - A Critical Appraisal. Editors: Olofsson, G. and Hort, S., . Arkiv Academic Press. 115- 155. 978-9198085488
Blackburn, R., (2014). The Scope of Accumulation and the Reach of Moral Perception: Slavery, Market Revolution and Atlantic Capitalism. In: Emancipation and the remaking of the British Imperial world. Editors: Hall, C., Draper, N. and McClelland, K., . Manchester University Press. 76- 109. 9780719091834
Blackburn, R., (2011). The Global Drive to Commodify Pensions. In: The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies. Editors: Turner, B., . Routledge. 344- 368. 9780415686082
Blackburn, R., (2010). The Role of Slave Resistance in Slave Emancipation. In: Who Abolished Slavery: Slave Revolts and Abolitionism : a Debate with Jo�o Pedro Marques. Editors: Dreschler, S. and Emmer, PC., . Berghahn Books. 169- 178. 9781845456368
Blackburn, R., (2009). Epilogue. In: The World of the Haitian Revolution. Editors: Geggus, DP. and Fiering, N., . University of Indiana Press. 393- 402. 9780253220172
Blackburn, R., (2009). Pension Rights and Pension Finance in the Ageing Society. In: Democracy and social rights in the "two Wests". Editors: Kessler-Harris, A. and Vaudagna, M., . Otto. 157- 182. 9788895285160
Blackburn, R., (2009). Introduction. In: Paths to Freedom: Manumission in the Atlantic World. Editors: Brana-Shute, R. and Sparks, RJ., . University of South Carolina Press. 1- 14. 9781570037740
(2007). Pension Reform in Europe. In: Pension Reform in Europe: Politics, Policies and Outcomes. Editors: Arza, C. and Kohli, M., . Routledge. 155- 174
(2007). Revolution in the Making of the Modern World. In: Revolution in the Making of the Modern World: Social Identities, Globalization, and Modernity. Editors: Foran, J., Lane, D. and Zivkovic, A., . Routledge. 165- 181
Blackburn, R., (2006). Return of the proletariat? Pension rights and pension finance in the ageing society. In: Rights: Sociological Perspectives. Editors: Morris, L., . Routledge. 37- 54. 9780415355216
(2005). The Chinese Model of Modern Development. In: The Chinese Model of Modern Development. Editors: Cao, TY., . Routledge. 175- 187
Conferences (2)
Blackburn, R., (2008). 1968: Lessons Learned
Blackburn, R., (2008). Symposium 1968: Robin Blackburn
Grants and funding
2009
Major Research Fellowship, Slavery & Emancipation
Leverhulme Trust
