Corey Robin the Politics and Antipolitics of Fear 1

8/11/2019 Corey Robin the Politics and Antipolitics of Fear 1

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The Politics and Antipolitics of Fear

COREY OBIN

He has lost a hope of Paase, bu he cngs to thewder hoe o eea damnaon.

-Vigiia Woo

I S SELDOM OED,but fear is the rst emotion experenced byany character n te Bble. Not desire, not same but fear Adam

eats from the tree dscovers e is naked and ides from God confessng "I was afraid because I was naked:' Before ths admissonGod creates and sees tat his creatons are good He sees tat Adamis wthout a mate whch is not good Eve sees that te tree of ow -edge s "peasant to the eyes and a tree to be desred to make onewise But tese are reports of anseptc percepon with no warm

ng murmur of appreciaton or averson Everyone ooks everyonesees Does anyone feel? Not unt tey eat the forbdden fruit do wehear of felt experence And when we do it is fear Why fear? Peraps t s because for the authors of te Bbe fear is te most elecic of emoons Pror to beng afrad Adam and Eve exist and act inte world but wthout any palpable experence of it Afrad they areawas in experience wth God promsing even more-for Eve the

pain of cildbirth for Adam te duress of work for both the dreadowedge of deat Unafrad Adam and Eve have ony the aestapprecation of the good and hazest apprehenson of the bad Therdim cognzance of ev makes tem spectators to ther own vessemiconscous actors at best Adam names Eve succumbs but nether realy ows what it is that tey do Afraid they ow Saowtemptation gves way to dramatic coice nertial moton to eectedacton Their storyour story-s ready to begn

After September 2 writers tell us an altogether differentnd of fear drove a smiar passage from passivity to feeling andaton Before Americans were supposed to be in Eden iing

9


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in a warm bath of socal autsm. Accordng to Dad Brooks, theetos of he ay was to cuvae our pvate paases;' o bask, i

e words of Don DeLllo, in the uopan gow of cber-capta Atthe e, bss seemed the goOUS oe of peace and pospen fact, any cam, i was he rotng frt of decadence and decayufeng no dictes eeing no loss, we let o sense of he wordgo dim, our usces atophy Hodng up a mrror to our povershed appeite or expeence Brooks notes a the ost ceebaed stcom of the age was Seield, a show abou nothng: But

wrtes Fank Rch, was a nightmae awaenng us ro a frivoous not ecaden decadeong dream The fear t povoed, addsBrooks, was a moing ceanser, wasng awa a ot o he sefnugence of the 199oS Accong to George Packe, it bought usaertness, grief, resove, even oveexpeence itself acer cites,apprng, he commens of an nvesent bner eeng eWold Trad Cener on the day of the aack Im not n shock lkeths state Ive neve been more cogzn n m fe Fea estoedto us te claing owledge ta evl ess, mang oa, deerate acon possle once agn What was to be deaed was not a

repeat o but accordng o acke, a retu o e nomaityha preceded t, or tha would mean nsead of pbic memoas,prvate consumpton instead of lnes to gve lood, resauant inesnstea of cvic attenon, prsona suion ws no the endof the story Lke the savg fea of Adam ad Eve, t was jst the

begnningt ws Montagne who rs ecaed, The thng I fea mos sfear nce then, phlosophers and poicans, scholars and punds,have taken his ead, deemng e the geat e o clzaton, temos eha pedment o freedom, o be ought at costs. Busoethng whin us essts his antpay Weo tose who wrteon ou behafsee to lke the idea of eng afad Not becausefea aerts s o re dange o propes s o ae necessary actonagainst it, bu because ea s suppose to arouse a heghened staeo experence Accordng to his ne of inng, ea quickens oupercepos as no othe emoion can, focing us to see and to ac n


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COREY ROB 8

the word in ew and more nteestg ways wth greate moal dscrmnation ad a more acute conscousess of our suroudgs

and ouseves. Ths proposto s ot coned to the more agitatedcurets of mode tought ad ts chef propoets do ot beogto that dark cast of characters from the counter-Enghtemet:Sade Netzsche or Foucaut Instead, they nclude the pato santsof mode beasm ad coservatsm John Loce and dmundBurke. or ocke fear s "an uneasness of the mind;' and "te cheff ot oy spur to human dusty ad acto s uneasiness." Though

we mght th tat me and wome act o behaf of desre Locensisted that "a tte bung fetke fear"pushes us more powefuy tha great peasues pospect draw or allue Bure hadequy ow regard fo peasue t nduces a grotesque imposon ofsef a "soft tanquty appomag an advanced state of decay fot death tse But whe we image the prospect of "p ad terro we experece a deghtfu horror the strongest of a passons Without fear we are passve wth t we ae roused to "thestrongest emoton whch the mnd s capable of feeng

Ths essay s about fear parcuary as t pertans to potcs Bypoca fear mea a peopes felt appreheson of some harm tothei coective webengte fear of terrorsm panic over crmeaiety about moa decayor te intmdaton wieded by indvduas groups and govements over other idvduas groups adsocees. What makes both types of fers potcal rater than per

soa s tat they emaate fom society or have cosequences forsocety Whoy prvate fears are afacts of our own psychoogies andexperieces ad have itte impact beyond ourseves. Potica fearby cotrast arises fom conicts wth ad between socetes. AnAmercans fear of terorsm for example s a respose to the attacsof ad the strggle betwee the Unted States and radcaIsamcists. The fea amog black Amercans of the poceo onceupon a tme among Soet dssidents and South Afrca antapatheid actvists of the govermetss spared by frctio the civc word otc fea can so have wdespead repecussios. t may dctate pubc pocy brg ew groups to power ad


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keep others out, create laws and oveurn them. The fear of commuism durig the early years of the Cod War, for example, helped ro

back te New Deal; bac fears of wite ue ad whte fers of blackrevolt undeote a centu of lega sgregaon hough policalfear s often assocated wth govement acts, t eed ot be, at leastot overly ake e fear a woman as of a abusive usband, or theworker of a cruel employer To e casal obseer, these fears arepersonal, he product of an unforunate but eirely private derangement of power In actua fact, ey ar potica hey spng from

peasve socal ieques ad help sstan long traditios of ruleover wome ad workers ese nequties ad traditios re oereforced, however drecly, ad created, however remotely, bygovemet polices. Behind the husbad's abuse lies centures oflaws and doctres awardng him authorty over hs fe behd theemployerS celty are statutes, past an present, grang hm coercive power over hs employees

make here three cams about poitical fear The rst concesow we think of t the second, how ad why we have come to kof t this way e thrd, how we mght think of t nstead hattese argumets add up to is this: hough fear has a pocs, weoen igore or misconstre t, mag t cult to uderstand howad why fear s used Coviced that we lack moral or polcal pcpes to bd us together, we savor he expeence of beig afraid, foroly fear, we beieve, can u us from isoated me and wome to

a nted peope Loog to polical fear the mora grod of ourpublc fe, we refuse to see the grievaces and contoversies thatunderlie t We bind ourselves to the rea-world concts that makefear an instrument of poca rle and advacemet, dey oursevese tools at might migate tose coicts, ad ulmately esurethat we stay in rall to fear Perhaps hat s what some in our socie seek to be n hrall, perpetually, t fear But sice fear sedomyeds, over e ong term, te ui d ener so many hope toobtain from t, we shoud pobably look for those goods esewhere,and approach poca fear for what t sa symptom of perasivecoict ad poca uappiessraer han for what it is ot


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hogh mot mode wre nd potcn oppoe polcler the enem o let eon nd othe Enghtenment vethe oen emrce t n pte o themelve oce o poclvlt We condemnng Jcon eo ove depotm Balkngenocde nd e ee opportnte o coecve renewl ne er o ee ev Not enewl o the vcm o woook pon thee evl rom wto Potc e the gmen goetece e woth o pecc polcl ve e e o cvl wror nnce ppoed o eed epec o he e o lw thee o tottnm n pprecon or lerl democc e eo ndmentlm pport o toeton nd plm Ad oconcng thee ll we re perded to tke ppoprte mereto wd them o Once peded we ppecte nd cher wedd no eoe the vle o ee ndoteprncpe ke the rleo lw e democc nd o on Pocl er ao ppoed o

pompt more genea pr wkenng Wot dnger nd coneqent e we ck no on ponte convcon o poclve We ck convcon We eel ded Onl n the ce o ewe e oed o cton nd eeve th there omethng n thewod jng o eort o n t

Fo polcl e to oe n hee w e ojec o erm eong to the relm o polc nd et omeow tnd prt

rom I e o commt o polc ve ke e rle o wo lerl democc we m conont polcl et o oe ve Ae ll cot ct etened tdl wve m e ncted o plc cton t nrl de eldom povoke czen oemrce o enc pecc poc prncpe In te ce o tdlwve ct mg concpt t czen to eec potecve wl tw t edegn conton extend o retct e rnce oconde c qeton o olgton nd ocl jce? oce

gened o polcl de however oten orced to tke precel t nd o cvc con Pocl dnge lke w o nrecon reqre ocet o dene o rm t ee to mole


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agans te rea on be of s poc aues. Une naura saer poca sase orces a socety o scoer an hen prsue

the potca eas a uner ess reaenng crcumsances mgspy oe

A the sa of hs caeer or exape a yong Abaam nconreare pon he nfference an ethargy o hs counyenComfotabe an compacen ey d no ces he aues aonce nspe e aters o ae p arms on beaf o ey Themen o creae he repubc ncon amene "were a oress of

srengh u a nang oeen co never o te sen artey of me ha one; the eeng of s as. They are gone A esame me aacc sps of mob re sang he an ncons Amerca a heaene y a resess moo of aessness apopa voence. Wha mgh ep reco e epc o s orgna aes? Wa mg spa a rous spr of cc engagemen?Te ery oege of hs oence he aareness a ere seen no somehng of omen among us;' e noon tha saageryas aoo o pouce a fresh apprecaon o ha he conysouners ha achee an ou nspre a ne poltcal relgon-a egon of a consecrae by te meory o bod once spean no treaene. The ea o poca saser n ohe orso aaen a generaon ose ony a a been o pass on a ha nhere

A he same me ha many res an eaers see opporn

y n e ea of poca angers tey oen nss pon eng hoseanges as no poca as havng te o o e sses an conroerses a ordnay anmae poca scsson an acton.Conse agan he response o Amecan commenaors o We many emrace e ays pocay gaang ea hey argue tha the errorsm ha arose no arse from pocaconces as no e jaces osty o U.S. poer or nsance a poe hree panes no e enagon an he WoTae Cener Nor as anger a Aercas paronage o srae orsponsosp of espoc regmes n he Me Eas. The eorss many came ere smpy no nerese n pocs. "Ther


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gievance expained Thomas Fiedman, "is rooted in psychology,not poitics:' For some commentators, terosm was fueed by ananey over modey, by he march of secuasm and oter West-e values, wich hreatened the Musm words frage sense ofident. This anxiety had noting to do wit power, resources, or po-icy It had eveyhng to do wth cultural uneasiness People n tegip of cultural anety, according to tis argument, are ripe for tetotazing thinng of samc radcalism, were Allah seves as a substtute or a lost sense o autrty, te terrost cell a replaceent

for a ruined social sodart. For oter observers, te psycholo ofterroism was ess cutura tan personal. To understand wat droveMohamed Atta, te Egyptianbon ringleader of te attacks,anaysts recommended tat we look to "he raw ingredients of hspersonaity Muc was ade of the fact tat Ata sat on is otherslap unl we afte he had begn coege Attas fater complanedat is wife raised teir ony son as a gl and frequently told young

Moaed, Toughen up, boY' Atta stayed away fro womenrgtnto is deat. (Hs w eft strict instucons tat none soudattend is funera.) He ved n a pnk house Tough Atta's friendsclamed he was incensed by U.S. support for Egypts repressive goveent, the Gulf War, and te Oslo peace accords, te press ig-nored these policy questions and focused on psychoogca issuesAtta and his coconspirators suffered from a troubed mascunty;gi was te acion of sexuay ambiguous boys tryng to prove that

they were menThere sees to be a contraicton in our approac to fear. On

te one and, we see political fear as an oppotuniy for renewal, asthe moent to swallow te poitica medicines tat keep theseobjects of fear at bay. On te other hand, we ook upon these obectsas politicay epy. We probably cannot resove tis contradictionsolely at te evel of logc, for, toug t ases in part fro abstract

thought, t is bttressed by politica need Understandng te objects of our fear as ess tan potcal aows s to treat them asintractabe foes Nothing can be done to accommodate te tey

can only be lled or contaned Understanding the objects of ourfear as not politica aso renews s as a coectve. Afraid, we are ike


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e auee a roe eae ofrog a an fasey soug "e ue o beause e sare sa beefs or aspaos

bu beause e are equay reaee. Were e o uesa eobjes of our fear as ruly polal e gh argue abou te as

e o abou oer pola hgs. We gh ouselves less u-e a e oug. Soe of us g sypaze he gev-aes of ou foes oers gh o see e as so paabe orageous. By eovg ese objes f e oroveses of pol-s oever e aeve e poal ua reealta so

ay ers aveTs ay of g arks a eparue fro peoe Wes-e oug. Geess otwsag os es por o e o-e era vee poal fear as a afa of oal belefs

ere e prou of euato as a sos eve Geess a aaes as fear s aaeess soehee be-wee preoal oral ha e s e e obas olyafe e has eae fro e ee of oege Fo phosopers as

varous as rsoe a uguse lo a eve Hobbes feaou o oe s beause epee upo a peeg appre-eso of goo a evl. Oly f e e a as goo ou eo evl a be afa of Wa a soeg feal oeros as oraty an be ory pos Wha ae agobe ea o e baeel soeg o be feare aog orsole as o te ea self bu e oral eeao ta

su a ea as shoorable a ae e goo Chrsa feaa e feae og o uguse e oal qualty of sshape by s reag a uersag of spure Wha aee oral eas oppose o te pre or proooal afearGo? org o Moses e kolege of a Go a oefo e es Egyp eae a oa appeao of oGo as ha Go as apabe of peope ose a ey

feare efeee o e o belefs hh epee upopo suos pol euao Te objes of fer eea par of pos es o a lusv egse of go a ev beoge o soety as a ole s a esul fea oul o


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acieve te tas of savato a wites afe gi age i pe-foig I coud o awae e ad woe o e oal valueso eew te as a coecve. Oy if ey aleady ew tei vauesoy if tey aeady beoged o a obus coecve coud ey beafaid of geuiey feaful igs

Today we do o i of poica fea as a ally of ou beiefsad udgets oal o poiica No is it a ite of delibeatioo coce Fea eeds o deiio' wtes Rayod Ao I is apa ad so to spea supocal eoo the ode ea

pocal fea s toug o be a species of teo o axiety Teo ac-codg o Judi Sa is a pysioogica eaco o oveweegpysica dage I is a auoac espose ivoutay ad fa ooipeous to be cotolled to abtay awess oecehe te-o fo istace fel by so ay jus afe gi o by Sovie citizesduig te Stal yeas Aiety s e feeoaig isecuity a peope expeiece i e face of socal beadow ad a abset o d-dig oaiy. Tese ae axious es wies Micael Sadel

we we suffe fo te sese a fo faily to egboood toao te oal fabic of e couity is uaveg aoud usAog ou os paalyzig colecive feas' cotiues Jea BeeEsta is e aey a couites will coue to disiegae failies w coue o collapse; e cee siply woold As idivdual poliica expeieces eo ad axie do oae ei beaigs fo a obust oaly o focefu ideology

fo discete coeet ideas abou good ad evbu fo volece ad aoie. Nete ae eo ad aey ougt o be ge-eaed ad susaied by e coveioa isues of poicssead ey aise fo opoical souces e case of teo

wies uge us o oo to lawlessess ad usacoed vioecewic ave ei oots i psycolo ad a deep cuua ipove-iset; i the case of aety to e absece of oaty ad loss of

custoa odes of civl ad poitica ifeBecause we sepaate ea fo oas ad poics we beievei ca be e goud of bo Paiculaly a oes of oadoub ad poiica suggisess fea becoes e ecessay pod


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o comon ppoe Wng ae e Fenc Reolon o eaple ocqele noe e anee a aune geneaon

epa oe he lo o e O Regme neane ao Fancenew eocac penaon woe aou e e an eaou he pa acng conence n e aona h o Goan g ocue o coneoae mg a enewe conece n e epeece o ea wc co acae angon a comen o eeom "ea e woe n a noe o me m e pu o wok on eal o ey o a e pu n

Deccy n Aic, e u en ook owa o he e wha aua ea wc ake en keep wac an wa o eeo an no w a ay le eo wc make men eak an eneae e Moe an a cnuy lae Hanna Aenueye e oa waean ceae y Euope econ yYea Wa Achz an e glag e oee a heee nneeenceny ampon o g an le e ee oe pa wee no longe eul e aom o neal pogeopeae All a emae wa e ea hee hoo a geneae u n a ea lay he nume o a new oal an polcacone

The fear of conceaon camps ad he esultg iSgh itoe nate o oa domao mh see o vadae a obso-ete poca ffeeaon om gh o e ad o ocebesde ad above hem e pocay mos mpoan yadscko jdgg ees o e, aey: wee ey ee oa-aa domaon o not.

y yea ae Aen he cceo coee e galanzngene o poca ea ye agan e wake o he ol Wa we an joua no oge cean a e a o eal pncpe ne o e memoy o cele pa an e ea o

cuee peen a e ucaon o nda g an ealy new lea o ea a kla cae oe no o eue oe a smmm bonm owa wch a pocal age oule ceanly oe egn a smmm lm wc a


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of us kno and ould avoid oly f e could Tha ev is cruely adhe fear spies, and he very fear of fear ise Or, i he odsof Mchae Ignaeff

I tt cny o m sty ssss on op n on ss o ops bo mncpcy o goo on o mn cpciy o l lsso son o n s k o s isoy o t ood s o T y sos on o o s oism Ai Vdn t Rssi o

Asz Hosi Vn Cmbo Lbno Rndd Bos A cy o o s cms o s cs mliy m om cild k

We may o o ho e are nd here e ae gog, he argumengoes, e may no kno ha s ruy good or us, bu e do oha i is o be afraid Tha smple, almos inscive oledge casucure our pubc fe and aimae s exeros s ou fue andou focus, he dssoa ene of our cvic faih.

Ho dd e come o his? Through larger changes higabou he sef, moraliy, ad pocal oder, ad hough a spec-cally lbeal cocepio of polic rle Pior o he moden ea,res le Aisole and Augusne pesumed a naura orde o heunivese, from hich morals and poliics, sociey isef, ere sup-posed o emaae. Human bengs, in his vie, ere bo no a pe-

esg srucure of permane sadg ad derved heir idenyfom heir place in ha scure he sef as e o iha ceaure of iese ineioriy and ceavy, geeag is ideniy adbelefs agans he consaing foces of adon and sociey

ha rg Hoe oce caled a aci poemc, i opposio o heagessimply dd o exis ven Auguse and Luhe, hose greapoes of he ne ife, believed ha he ask of each perso as o

reconcle hmself o God's ee ode, o d hs place ihi hegrand ok of a povde ceao Bu h he rse of mode sciece and philosophy, paricularly he o of Galeo ad Descares,ha naural oder and a ha e ih deniy, mor, d


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pocal order-coud no longer be aken for granted. Wrers nowrequred proof of ta order's esence, fuised no by obsevaon

or expeience but by a relenless nspecon of the thinng processisel nly by begnnng wh inconestabe rst princpes, and bypursung her mpicaons rough a process of deductve reasonng,could he nivdual produce-produce, no discover-a son oforder Likewise d the nidual come to hs morals and polcs, aswel as s sense of self houg not qute a aker of s moralsa dea woud coe later-the inddua neerheess becae he

presaro of is oral world, a agcian wo roug eca princpes no beng by he wonders of menal technque When t cameto pocs, te indivdua's creave powers were even greaer.Hobbes-n s respec, a odeviewed e sate no as anorganic eny arisng fro a preesng nature but as an ArtciaMan' wth an rcial sou, acal imbs, and arcal neres nhe sae way ta God made the world, so could men make anArciall Anmal lke he sate Able o orcesrate is oras andpocs, he invidua so was capable of fasonng his own iden-wthout rference to God, e cosmos, tradion, o his saon nlfe Reoved fro soce, surrounded y he pereer of s reason and selfunderstaning, e self ooked upon he word no as a

welcoing ground or faa hoe u as an aien andscape o bemasered and tamed.

But f morals and poics as well as he sef, were ade, tey

could be unade And so they were beginnng in he eary modeera rough our own me, n batte after bate of cl and neational war-someties abou relgion, oher times abou pocs,usuay abou both Unike eir predecessors n e ancent wordese wars see to hu men and woen no an empy universe, a

void lacng any foundation for e uths of moralty and polc, foreven presumng tat tose ruts eed Wt cv order nowunderstood o be lfe's precous and precarious acheveen, necessariy followed a cil war, as Hobbes sad, was Death:' Phosopers and ters also egan o wonder wether e self was nosometng of a con e self dd not appear o hem he val


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COREY ROB 9

maer of s own meanings Instead it seemed a beng of intensefraiy and lackuster abon wh an a too easly cushed perhapsnonesent wi The sef n this vew did not naurally see to create moras he poly or uch of anything; t could barey supporthe weigh of ts own ndependen estence For Loce he self waslured to near dissoluon by he pleasures of contenment hen aman is perfecty conent wh the state he s n what industry whaacon wha wi is there le but to connue in t? Weakened bycontenment he self ost he wll to ac to set about esabsng the

uths of the world of orai and poics or ure the naturalstae of he self was no even contentment which at eas impledsome pleasure n he self's ongoing acvities "The human mind

wroe ure "s often and think it s for the mos pa in a stateof indfference:' Ths ndfference hreatened to produce "a stae ofres and nacon' where "al the pats of our bodes fal nto arelaaon that not only dsables he members from performng her

funcons but aes away the vgorous tone of bre whch is requsitefor carrying on the naura and necessay secreons:' The resut was"meancholy dejection despar and often sefmurder' The self nshort could qucy become no self at all-enrely through its owndOng Long before Foucaut predcted the end of man witers ikeurke were perfoming his auopsy

These new ideas of order moray and he self-and hercoroares he specter of nohngness and the self's disappearance

made he world whatever ts acua stae of conct or voence seeman nherenty nsecure and precaious place and the self whateverts physca iables and lmitaons seem naturally vunerabe toexeal manpuaon and contro o collapse n he face of he

pressng demands of oers Sef and socey were now thought to beetealy beeged by the hreat of destrucon sowng a naturalbreeng ground for fear-a fear of loss of anarchy of persona and

poltical nonbeing Accoring o TocquevlleSch ste nevty enevtes e sol, nd eng tespngs o the l pepes people o ondge Ten no ony they let the eedom e ke o hem t ote hey


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acay ad or tss W s no autoty ngon o n pocs n a soon gnd b t tss

ndndnc t wc ty a acd Ty a word andwo ot by t consan sssnss o ng

Smehg w equied ce ef d ciey g heehe f h Ad h mehing w fe he fe fhinge whch w diligh y ide e' cqueve we which mke me he ik d eneve

hem u he fe f h fe he y fe whch me menkeep wch d wd f feedm O Fk Revel ciig fm he wh g fm Mage wuld pu hely hig we hve fe i fe ienmee uegujied e which pye eeded eff cve eei dvce:' Fe ief w dig he fe f fe ief eve d evivig Oy he ecd peed he equie ee pe he elf d ciey fwd Aed h fe he elfd

ceyw fied gi y exel nd dmec eemie u l he ie edecy he lm ve deie dven he upy dffeece f which Buke pke

Such de did elg lely he ied pvce f heppe Evey hey pemeed e wk f iuen jui A he hegh f he Cld W f ce Ahu Schleige we The Vta Cente Oeily el cl m gi

he Se Un d Aec cm e Va Cente wey g f depi d ey m h vced ycqevile Deccy n Aec. "Ween m he middef e wenieh ceuy we Scheige i ee uceidf We lk up epch me f ule n ge f x-ey he gud f u civn f u ceude e eng upude u fee d fmli ide nd iui vih we echf hem ke hdw i he fg duk:' Sipped f he pec-

ve ue f medevm' Amec fced he eiing mlempe f he uivee Lcg eligi dl uhiy

hey wee fced mke y f deci whu y gund


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CORY RON 93

fro whch o choose Eve hough he year was 199 he SovieUo was us abou o elode he aom bob, ad he UedSaes was o he verge of he Korea War, Schlesiger was emphac ha the greaes hrea o the Ued Saes was o exea buiea, o polca bu spriua ad psychological The crss offree socey has assued he form of ieaioal coiso betweedeocraces ad oalaria powers; bu his fac shoud o bidus o he fac ha is essece hs css is ieal he soutio

was o u the coc betwee he Sovie Uo ad the Ued

Saes io a provg groud of self ad socey. e us sie a hedilemma of hisory' urged Schesger, referrig o e aiees ofeaglessess ad despair, " ers of the pobe bewee heUed Saes ad he Sovie Uio "The fac ha the coes bewee he USA ad he USSR is o the source of he coeporarycriss does o, however, aler he fac ha he css us be me erms of hs coes By cofrotig a exeal eey, Aericascoud rasform her diffuse uease o focused, galvag fear.As David Broos asseed afer 9/1 We have raded he aneesof auece for he rea fears of war

I ag abou politica fear, he, may ode wrersHobbes, Moesquieu, Tocquevlle ad Ared, as well as coe

poray iberas le Judih Shar ad Michae Igaeff, ad couiarias e Mchael Sandel, Aiai Eio, ad Charles ayorhave seldom bee simply alg abou the dagers ay perso or

socey ay cofro Isead, they have approached dager withhese images of persoal oss ad poliica ohigess i midThough ay ode wriers reec fear he ae of freedom,dividualis, reaso, or he Elgheme, hese specers of persoal desruco ad poica othgess have aso mpeed theo embrace fear, ofe he ame of he same values Bu if fear iso see as he age of persoa ad colecve salvatio, is obecsus approximae he othigess ha such wriers believe haushe ode sef ad socey. For oy f fear les beyod he cosrais of polcs ca i coai the aic force ecessary o resoreo he self ad soce heir requse eergy


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9 RARA

ee s a seod easo ta wrtes ad poas aeembace poca fear uersood ts objecs as opoa

ad ts as ess o o wt te boa assmptos of mode ogta wt e mperaes of poa berasm wc are espeapoet e e Staes Moe berasm s a compex eag o eas edbe to sogas or soud bes wc eeeessoeres arod a skepcsm owar srog eze goemeto t s suc goermes te bea magao w eoewemg power o mam doctrae a make wa at

ae qe postoe to se fear amog me ad wome Sasas We e soes of soca oppesso are ee umerousse ssts oe as e dead effec o ose wo as e ages ofe mode stae ae que resoces of pYca mg a persuaso a te sposa To coue te ds of staes ta arosesuc fearo a staes b ose at make fea a a a ea codo of febeas recomme ara of presrposte re of aw oeao a goeme of sepaaed a fagmeed powe oa assocaos a puasc c soet ote wos ma of tose eemets o or bera emoa atczes eaders ad eecas ces as esoes of merfreeom

Ts teag as pose a probem pauar e UtedStaes o e matos or oso plaes po strogetaze goeme o oe ca d a we ae wesse

togo our so e peo Os of potc fea ome e ad Seo cs of e ae 1790 to te aabotostammga ad atabo pas of e eeet cetu o e

aos e scares of e twee e Uted Saes as ad beemme o te se of fea as a fom of mao ea aalsts of ese epsoes ae ad dct ecog em w obe poca sttos Te ae oe so b deg te orgs of poc fear ose e poa spee e ps seues a cua aees of a restess popae

Take te ase of Masm Mcatsm was a mmesoa moeme of po epresso b oe of s ca


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OR RON 95

ngs divd fm t cmbind ffrts f bg businss thRubcan Pa and th FB t cam dwn n t srings frganzd abr and th rgrssv ft during lat 40s. Cntra t ula bif McCartyism wrd trugh v cntrvancs f stat and scity tat t bral imagnatin rzs andrcmmnds as an andt t far nddua gsatrs SnatrJsh McCathy and Mississ cngrssman n Rann tivdn th fragmntd natu f cngrssinal w camnd byMadisn Hamitn and th Famrs T saratn f gslatv

fm xcutv w t ambn f and cmtn btwnndvidua tcians-raisd trugut Th Fdrit Paprs asa chc un rssiv gvmnt-d Hary Tuman HubHumhy and a gd many t lbra Dmcrats t snsrftn against thr wn btr judgmnt sm f t mst dracnancs f lgisatin in twntthcntu Amica And wr tstat culdn't act a lurast sci std n Litally thusandsf myrs and mys busnss grus and ab uninschurchs and synaggus lcal ganzatns and cc asscans-tat dns tmng nfrastrctu f cvi scy cbatd

by intlctuas frm Tcquvi t Rbrt Putnamhld gnat and sustan lcal far ftn wt th stathy sut f thFB Nghbrs sid and nfrmd n nghbrs rachrs n asnrs tacrs n studnts Emyrs rd fusd t wrrs lab ladrs urgd unn cals rvat gus xd

indivdual mmbsBut f many ntctuas at th tim-suc umnais f Cd

War sca thugt as Richard Hfstadtr Danil B Talctt Pasns Symur Man Lst Naan Gazr and Davd RismanMcCarthsm was ltt mr tan a sychathl a cutual curf dmcracy T far f cmmunsm thy agud rs frm thstatus anxs f an galtaran scity whic wr thn fistd

un t stat n t fm f rrssiv gsan McCathysm nthr wrds was nt an nstrmnt f lt nsttutna wr nrwas t t duct f bal gvmnt. t was nstad a symtmf what Hfstadtr cad "th aranid syl f Amrcan ics'


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96 RARAN

W fea descrbed as a style ater an a sbstance t ssue of anovereated imagnaon ater tan a response o pocal poces

an actices, neecus we ree fom wor bout is repressve tendencies Conent at McCartyte fea ad no polticalmeanng, cultura citic esle Fiede breezily dismissed its aca-ty: "From one en of e cony to aoer ings te cry, I amcowed! am afad o speak ou' and e even oude response,Look, e s cowe He s afa to speak out Ts, at pecsey emomen wen one to two of evey ve mecan wokes was sub-

ec to some nd of political investigaton or loyaty oat. Tougnellectuals ad mltiple reasons o downpaying e pocal signicance o McCartysm, one o tem was e commment toberasm an s analysis o polcal fear For f e only n o poli-y at ives se to fea is a awless, vioen stae csing an nde-pendent cil socety, it stands o eason hat te ea one ns inmeica must ase from oter, nonpoca sources, n te cutreand psyce o te masses And so it as, n te mnds o many inte-

lectals commed o te iber vaues of a limite stae and plura-is cil sociey.

Bu polcal fear, would like to sugges, s no te saving agentof self and socey. No does t reside beyon te omn of poltics,bea or oterwse I s insead a potica tool, an nsrment of

elie ue or insugent avance, created, weded, sustained, o inte-peed by polcal leaers wo stand to gan someng om teiter becase fear eps hem pursue a spec potica goal, obecase lends suppot o ei bees, or o bot easons Poticafea, n ts couny at leas, opeates toug ou fragmened be-al staewt is sepaation of powes, rle of law, and edealismas well as o purast society To tink of polica ea as we do onlydstacts attention om wa potica fear does. By ecommendngtat we embace our ear, by obscurng e poical concts ta giverise o , by seeing liberalsm as solely a soluton and no also a pob-em, e wrers wo pofer tese notions o fear provde egitimacy,


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CORE ROB 97

wigly or wittgly to the powerfl fore i or oety whoave h to gai fro fear. they ere te le powerffore i or oety wo ave h to oe fro fear

Poa fear a work oe of to way Frt, leaer aee wat or ogt to e te pli ef oet of fear Pot-a fear of th o alot alway prey po oe rea threatitelo, f ever, i reate ot of othgt e te ar of feare a vario a it pleare, polita, goveet oia, jor-ait poliy telleta, a oter aper of "repoSle opi-

io have leeway eiig whih treat are worty ofolitial atteto a wh are ot It i they who et a hreatto e poplaoS weeg, wo tepret te atre a origof tat threat a who ropoe a eto for eetig that reat. Iti oa a avt other wor, wo ake parlar fearite of vi io a pl oizao Th oe ot eatat ea eer o te p atally fear te oe ojet; otevey era itize for itae i atively afra of terror.t erey ea that the ojet oate the politial agearowg ot oter pole oet o fear a oe oo-g terpretig a repoig to thee oet of fear, leaerare ee y ther eooga aptio a trateg goaThey vew ager trogh a pri of iea, whih hape ethertey ee a palar ager a treateig or ot a a le of pot-ia opotity wih ape wether tey ee that ager a hel-

f or otoier, for itae, the fate of the athrax are the wake

of gi Betwee 5 Otoer 2 whe the to roke, a the eof oveer ve people were le y athrax a eghtee oth-er fete Goveet oa edatey hte for g thatte attak origate he Mle East partilarly raq. a topgoveet et aoate wt te ivegato later reveale

kow there are a er of people the B tratio"wowol love a exe to get ater raq' a relt aorg toa hgleve telligee oial te US goveet ooke for ayre of eee that wol ear o t [the Iraq oeto], or


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98 RARA

any oreg sorce B he added "s js no here So ong asanhrax ad a wh o e Mddle Eas abo ocals aggressvely

prsed e hrea and e meda or a varey o reasons avsedaenon pon In Ocober folowng e obreak he New YrkT and e Wahigt Pt ogeer ran 92 sores menonng ahrax and n November 886 sores n December owevera nmber pmmeed o 4; by Febrary anra aed amere menons Wha appened? The obreak sbsded we as case of necon repored n ae November Te nves

gaon saled wh few leads rnng p og no as few as egovernmen wold aer cam Also mporan hogh was hegovernmens growng acknowledgmen hrogo Novemberand December a he perperaor of e aack was probaby anAmecan czen w lkey connecos o e u.s. mary A hapon e govemen smply los neres n he caseperhapsbecase he dea o anhraxs domesc orgns dd no wh heBs Admnsraons foregn polcy goas or becase domesc errorsm dd no regser as a rea o ocals vewng danger soeyrogh he ens o e Mdde Eas The meda aso os neresparay becase e so no longer seemed saen b aso onesspecs becase acked he Mddle as connecon ha nallymade newsworhy Whaever he reason wen e New k Tiran a pece he fowng Jly eadned Anrax The FB Yawns;everyone ese yawned oo Even hog e perperaor of he aack

had s no been ond and e damage o vaos govemenoces ad s no been repared even og e arce accsede FB of refsng o p a leadng sspec n e bocemcandsy nder srellance or o compare s handwrng w aof he anrax eers hardy a nge ewspaper or eevson nework pcked p e so No one n ese crcles seemed o careand anhrax dsappeared rom e pbc agenda

Or consder ow e govemen and meda nae he dangero dssenng ndvdas accsed of spporng errorsm whemnmzng a of coporaons accsed of smar crmes On 2Febary 2 e Jsce Deparmen ed carges agans Sam


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CORY RB 99

AAan, a Kwaio Paestinian pofesso of engneering a theUnesiy of oh Foda, accsng hm of nancng and sppo-ing samc Jhad, an organizaton inked o more tan one hndedings in sae and e ccpied Tertoes. Hoping o seize ponhe ndicment as a showcase fo the 201 Pato Ac, e sceDeparment annonced AArians ares to mch fanfae, and fonda recepe adence n the Amecan media The Ne York Tisand he Washington Post oh an fronpage sories aot e in-dctment, and n the week follwing, 318 sories appeared n othe

otets. By conas, when he federa goement reeaed womonths ate ha i had ned fyseen companes and organza-ons for dong siness wit oge staes and terrois gops, had-y anyone n he goemen o the meda ased an eyeroweenhogh he companies incded CheonTexaco, WaMar, Ci-gop, he New York Yankees, and Amazoncom, and een hoghher parners ranged fom a to an to an ndiscosed erorisoganzaon The goement eed minma nes, totaing a mere$35 miion, and posed notice of these corporate crimes on a one-y Teasry Depament weseand tat ony after a wachdoggrop ed a awsit o force the recods pc The goenmentdscose meey cied he offendng coporaons, the radingpartners, and the nes, and hen made an oiqe efeence o tesecons of e Tading wh te Enemy Act he companies had io-aed (for exampe, E032 FT) No a singe maor U. newspa-

per o eesion netwok picked p he soy i ony appeared inwee media otets, seea of tem n foegn contres n neithercase dd he aeged crimes noe anyone parcipatng in or pongacta ioenceAAan and te ftyseen corpoaions wee ac-csed of noemen with o sppot of eroris gops or ogesates, and in AArian's case, he teorst theat was to sae, noAmerican, czens ony in the rst case did it sere goen-

men nerests o make mch of he dange heatened and nowaetedThs far, hae een tang aot one method of poitica fea

he denion y poitica eades of plic oects of apprehenson


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00 AA

ad oe This ehod usuay esues ha he eades andeoe o who hey ae aean shae a oo ideiy and

ha boh ous ae euay heaeed by vue o ha ideiyThus ovee oas eda eies v eadesadAeian iesae suosed o be oevey endaneed byad ued aas anha eoss o he Mde Eas and aiAAia o ouiss duin he Cod Wa eas dun heFis Wod Wa ad so on is no aiden ha is ode of ea sos oon du waie fo is a onsiey is he

naio o soe ohe esuaby ohesive ouny and is ia obje a foein eey o soe ohe aoiao o heae ike dus ias o ias

Bu hee is a seond ode of oa fea whih has e odo h oia eades de a oo obe o aehensioon behaf o a Sie eoe Ths seod d of ea ases o hesoia oia ad eoo heahes a dvde a eoeThouh is fea s aso eaed ieded and aiuaed by oa eades s sei uose o funo s o idae o usesaos o he hea o saos o esue a oe ou easo aes is owe a e eese of anohe. Wee e sode o fea voves a oeves fea o faaway danes o foeineeies esued o be eey seaae o he oeive hisseod ode of oia fea is oe iiae ad ess fabs ais-i o he vea ons and evaes ede o a soey

hese ae e nequiies o weah saus ad owe Whie i woudbe oo uh o ha s seond ea s he odaon o soaand oiia ode s so osey nked o soieys vaous hiea-hesad o e e and subssion sh hieahies enaas oqua as a bas ode o soia and oia ono

This d o fea ay be aoused by daa as of voenebu need no be As Main Luhe Ki eaked s Leerfm Biingham Cit

yJail, whes in Cow Aeia ossessed a

ae nveoy of eas by whih hey ed ove baks ob voee oie bay ey haasse deoao odes o ad-dess Likeise du he MCahy yeas ovee oias


23/30

ORY ROB 0

isire a fear of heir ower amog ibeas ad eftiss via oyayivestigatios mass rigs ad acists. With he excetio of heexecuo of the Rosebergsobaby o iede a istrumet of fear the Roseberg tra a executio aroused i oehe-essoe of he McCathyte taccs etaie hysica vioeceBecause fear is a arehesio of harm ad because harm is soofe a eivao of some good to the idiviua wees of owerca arouse fear merey by reaeig the iivuas ejoymet ofta goo hat may eai etha vioece bu ofe i does o as i

the case of McCarthyism where wha is theatee is he oss of acaee or steady emoymet.

As Kig aso made cear it is ot ecessa o mae acve orexress threas i ore o aouse this of fear istead this ui-ve fea ca a usuay does hove quiety about the reaioshisbetwee the owefu a he oweress subty iuecig eveaycouc wthout requirg much i he way of acive itimiatio Ifact what maes this usoe fear so iuea eseciay i a ibea democracy is that it does ot a ue requie overt acts ofcoecio. As he ureme Court wote i a civ rights case of 196e heat of sactios may deter he exercise of costitutioayroece freedos amost as oety as the actua aicaio ofsacos his is aricuary ue whe he vcms of this threa areoweress or somehow eeet for heir webeig uo the goodwshes of the owerfu. he vicms ae aeady icie to obey their

sueiors for fea of osig their aroage fea does ot euiemch aioa coercio. his usecacuar qotiia fear is theAmerica way of eessio

t is ot oy he owefu who wied fear and the oweresswho are afa Peoe wih ower ae themseves ofte seize by afea of those without it either he fear arouse by guit for havgcommitted istice o more commoy he fear that he oweess

wi oe day se u a isossess them. Agai Kig uesoo this of eite fear a oo we. Jim Crow he wrote was buttresse bysuch iratioa feas as oss of referre ecoomic rviege ateedsocia satus itermarage ad austmet to ew situatios: hese


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2 RARAN

"corroding fears induced seepless ghs and haggard days amonghe gult-idden whe minoriy:'

Ye he most saien poica ear, te one hat mos peasiveystucures ou ives and mis ou possbiltes is the ear aong theess powefu o e moe poweru wheter pubic ocials or pivae empoyers ar-o agens of he sate or local fama eies. Andhere we come o he cux of he argumen For a our alk oday ofte ear of terorism or beoe ta of communsm e mos mportan om o polcal fe is ta whch ordinay Aeicans have of

their superors who sponsor and bene from he inequies ofeveyday ie The nd o ear I am conceed abou here is poitcabu is eeienced s inensey pesona aisng as i does om theangibe bonds a tie hose wth ess power o hose wh more. I sepessve consraining he acions o e less powerul enabing heacons o he moe poweu; s che ncon not purpose sntidaon ensues hat the poweess o ess poweru abide byte express o imped wishes of teir suevsors o meey do nothng to chaenge o ohewse undeme e esing distibuion opowe Such eas are ciica o power hodes eupping hem wie oos o pursue teir agendas wt a freer hand ensuing aey ll enjoy ther positon or some tme o come.

A good pace o begin an invesgaon of inimidang fear incontempora Amerca is e wokplace fo t is therein eunderregulaed pacces of hing ad rng promoion ad demo

on n he coerced and coecve nmaces of employer and employed supervso d supesedhat fear has an especay oxcefect. Whie adul Amercans spend e ovewhelmng maorty ofheir wang hours at wok and whie e business press openy confesses at he wokpace is neve ree o ear and i shoudn beand a ear can be a poweu management oo the wokpaceemains a vast erra incognia a ighy encosed space o hierarchyand consrain poeced rom pubc scrny by high was of egaagumen and poitca ndifeence. ieldng theas of ing deoon haassmen and ohe sancons empoyers and managesaempt to se speech and acon o ensure tha wokers dont tak


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COREY ROB 103

back or ac no becase eoyers are crue bu because heybelieve as forer nel CEO ndrew Grove wres n s Onl thPanod Suv a fear surs e fevered ace of coneoraryndsry ta s an essenal ro of or ocal econoy Workace fear creaes an inea socia order a can only be describedwh le exaggeraon as feuda a word ess osode an reode wose maser eors s neiter Kar Max nor da mib Joseh de Maisre

Consder e exerence of a gro of feale eloyees a a

Nabisco an n Oxnard Cafoa aker of A-I seak sace andhe world's sulier of Grey ouon sard n a 1995 lawsuihese workers colaned ta er serisors ad consisenlyrevened em fro gong o e batroo nsrced o rnaeno er cothes or face ree day's susension for nauhorzedexediions o te oile te workers oed o wear ad daers. Buinconinence ads were xensve so e workers downgraded oKoex and oe aer wic ose severe healh risks wen soakedin urine ndeed severa workers evenally conraced badder andrnary rac nfecons Hearng of her lig e consevaivecomenaor R Emet Tyrrell r advsed e o wear secia diaers sed by orses in New York's Cenral ark carrage rade) Noun ril 1998 did e federal govemen nder ressre froabor nions even anain a eloyers ad o gran eloyeesan lldened "iely access o e bahroom ince hen eloy

ers ave anaged o evade he law. s of 22 for nsance anagers a a Ji Bea bourbon dsllery in Cleron Kentc weresll keeng sreadsees moniorng eloyee use of he barooand foyve eloyees were dsclned for eeng naures callousde comanyaroved break mes. ccordng o local nionocias femae workers were even od o reor te begnnng ofheir ensral cycles o te han resorces deaen. Theseare jus soe of e ore noorios cases of worklace coercon tahave been blicized s anyone's gess ow any ore workerssffer fo siilar consrans bu are oo afrad o seak o againsem n te os coreensive srvey of eloyees o dae wo


26/30

ATAN

sca scieniss fund hat ne n ve wres cnsdering ng aawsui aganst er empyer dd nt d s fr fear at teir

empyer wud retaate agains tem n many sates and indusessuch reprsas are entrey ega

t is nt merey wrers at te w end f te ndusa r service ecnmy w experence ese frms f cmmand and fear sd whiecar empyees Andrew Grve, fr exampe ed t runIne he way A apne ran icag On ne ccasn wen an aide

was ate fr a meetng, Grve waed, hding a stave f wd te

sze f a baseba ba: Afer a tme, Grve sammed "the wd nthe surface f te meengrm abe and suted, I dnt evereve want t be n a meeing wit tis grup that desn start andend wen its scedued: Oer empyers are ess buyng, bu ness inmdang Ging hgh ec, hey rey n cmputer echngyt mnitr ter empyees every mve e Investgatr sfareprgramused by En, Mb, and Deaeeps rac nt nyf wrace perfrmance measures e e number f empyeeey sres and muse ccs per secnd, bu as f trubemaersShud an empyee pe aert wrds e bss r "unn In

vesigatr autmacay frwards her dcumensaved r unsaved,sent r n er supervisr. Bac n the fteenh cenu nePR executive expans "they used t use a ba and chan, and nwthey use tecn

In he crprate wrpace ntidatn and spyng cest

w pny afrmatins f individuaism, we empyees terredf sing eir jbs are crraed n eabrate perfrmances f fauxbnme and yaty te rm e resus can ften be umiia-ing and degrading. Afer EX cut s wrrce during te md10S fr exampe requred is MBAs and sed echnicans tattend a hreedayng retrea were ey were encuraged discver teir wn creativty by hppng arund a rm n differentways me pped n ne eg, ers n w st hes wt andsin te ar, and ne t a and cverng is eye Accrding t neparicipant, "e eaders wud say thigs ie L at w creative

yu are, hw many fferent ways yu can gure ut t manage


27/30

COREY RON 1 0 5

ump aund e rm And we a d We all dd i A marken eeuve a a ad an an wi had l undere aud f r reu w a manaeme nulan a a mvanal einar aded u waer pi hm ad h eaue andhad hem qur ea er elp hem e n uh w hemre pau elve. Thee were a ee eeuve unnn arudquin eah er e a e u abu n nn in buedered afer an imef If I dn qur wll I be ne? u ame he added wee e m unmfable hn f

prfenal me and wen A f u e unmfable embaraed euan pla he ame Bu e kep a wa ake wa dened break u dn I ink wa a wa f humlan u Ae a ud af a he Bak f Amera rpraeerup eabled a vuna pra r epee "adpan ATM mahne Mre an 2800 emplee ed up faifulleain er wn mahne and envrnn er n me

u era pa u ave he bndeandn ear a we da a leive repne nn

plial hrea a he p mean f mal ad piual reenerain r epndn ndvdual fe r alen be feara are upped heaen u l, we e r dwnpa eeeverda frm f fear wi renfe a epreive al rder nran freedm and reae perpeuae nequa ued nbe f fear peeved be pll n ee fear a

ure f v nr and leve eewal ur wre andleade pa ie aen e r pwer a arue ne m ene rppin bu eranl he nuenal fearM ee nu u wn ae ranized veral dibuin mre pwer reure and pee e few raer an ea Cnfrnn eerna rea ha peumabl ann be paaed wer and pan enn a un ha lle mre han a

ver f hee hierarie and inequale nder ver f aun he pweful ea e and e pwee e e Ta wha un n he fae f frhe aen apal daner meanB n upn fear a an ppun fr eve renewa n he


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16 R R T N

face ofnonpoica threas we help peretuae e fors of fear atos consran our aspraions and acions.

Much of s essay was conceived prior to and ts varousurgences ie far aed fro e hreas of Isaic fundaenalsand terroris Neverteess our reacions to the sense ofrenewa ta any hoped i would brng te nsistence upon ewngterroris as nonpoica he anipulaion o the fear of errors by

ees o creae or consoidae repressive fors of powera esereacons press us o confron the poca diensons of fear Thsessay gesures in a direcon urgng us o give up our wo bcassupions abou fear Frs we need o abandon e idea ha potca fear and ts associaed obecsdanger caasrophe dsasereoffer any hope of restorng a obus repubc of energecvirue For oo ong ineecuas and polcians have been ronghe swaps of fear in search of he headwaers of poliical and oralfe Such uess have now resued in houghfu huane inellecuas celebrang a warrior cuure bo of ass caageindeed nte case of George Packer prayng ha we never go back o is predecessor cuure of peace and prosper Ths shoud gve us pauseWha exactly we us ask ourseves issng fro our word thawe should require spied blood and incinerated esh and he fearsuch havoc and oss creae o fee ale? How s ha one of he

os proinent ineecuals of our ieChrisopher Hichenscoud ake a confesson of e foOing sor wihou provongeven a rased eyebrow of conceed response and indeed be fetedfor hs acuty and huaniy?

I sud as cnfss a n S 11 as nc I adxncd a uu aaan gau ns, ag nausa, I as discvd a an snsan as cn

tndng a On xanan, and y n susand as, u xaa wa sgu nycaic aaisn ain vi . . I


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COEY OBN

eaized that if he bate went on n the a day o my ie Iwod nee e boed in ose it to the most

We ave paid a tebe pce fo ou rtaon wt poitical fea disonOing ts vctms and dsablng ourseves. Peraps now is a goodtme to conside wee at prce as been wot it.

Second ts essay soud dsabuse us of e noon tat teobjects of ou fearand ou fear of tose obects-ase fo darkdeepy apolca or antpoica forces tat fear is "a smering of

nongness as Pois poet Zbgnew Hebet caactees "TeMonste of MrCogito

it is dt to desbeesaes denion

it s e a mmense deessonspead ot oe the ont

t an't e ieedwith a en

wth a amento a sea

Toug tis dea of fea s faly coonpace t s just tat-andea and a mstaken one at at. Poica fea can be pieced t apen an arguent a spear It is a eeng gound of te nteect and

te passons of publc and pivate powe of our oals and our polics not some nscrutable eanaon from te psycologca depsor te lurng sadow of ou cultua aunts It is a fiend of efamla-laws eltes nstituons power and autoityand a conso of te conventionalmoaiy and deology It s no lessaenabe to poltical anayss tan ae any of tese penomena Toclaim otewse s to ascribe to fea a dak botomess powe tat it

smply does not possess. Surounding fear wi an aua of te diaboical and e ysteous ay sas tat unge for spectator disaster famlia to oror movie entusasts e world ove It does notsats te demands of tut


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8 RARA

If we deprve potca fear of hese surrondng myhs, perhaps we wil see ore cleary wa our assmpions have longobscred: he repressve fear of etes, experenced by so manyAmecan men and women as ey go to wok, lea n scoo, agge wth bureaucraces and ocas and parcpae n te organzaons ha comprise or assocaed life. Peraps we wll see how orfear of errorsm orchestraed and manpaed by he powef sbeng sed to reorganize te srcre of power in American societygving more o ose wo aready ave mch and ng away from

ose wo have itte erhaps we w ven aend o-and mae apotca isse of-e massive ineqaes of Amercan fe and erepressve fear ta ose nequaes arose ad ssn For oneday, he wa on erorsm w come to an end; all wars do And wen does we nd orseves uness we ae acon now, s ingin fear no of foegn enemes, bt of the domesc apparas atfear has ef behnd

Corey Robin the Politics and Antipolitics of Fear 1

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Transcript of Corey Robin the Politics and Antipolitics of Fear 1