Corey Robin

Tag: Rogers Smith

Why do—or did—economists read the ancient Greeks?

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Three items that might be of interest. First, over at Balkinization, I participated in a symposium on Rogers Smith and Desmond King’s book America’s New Racial Battle Lines, which came out earlier this year. Rogers was my adviser in graduate school who taught me a lot of what I know about the American right. So I was thrilled to be invited to participate in this discussion, even if I disagree with some of his and King’s claims about where things stand with the right and racial politics in the US. From the conclusion to my post: While cultural battles are critical, it may be that they don’t require, on either side, new racial orders for their fighting. Existing languages, paradigms, […]

Desperate Housewives

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Here’s a fantastic piece in the current issue of Harper’s on Mary Kay and their exploitation of desperate housewives. It’s by Virginia Sole-Smith, a talented young journalist who’s carved out an interesting niche for herself: her beat combines beauty, labor, and exploitation. (She also happens to be the daughter of my adviser in grad school, Rogers Smith.) Alas, the geniuses at Harper’s have it behind the firewall.  But it’s astonishingly cheap to subscribe to the magazine, so do that or buy the issue.