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Michael Rogin A professor of political science at Berkeley for 38 years, Michael Rogin passed away in Paris of complications from hepatitis A on December 3. A short biography of him would tell us that he was born in Mt. Kisco, New York; graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. and then went on to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. from the
In a campus with a number of outstanding scholars, Mike Rogin was something special. More than a scholar, he was an intellectual: a person interested in abstract ideas, but ideas that would allow people to relate their everyday lives to their historical period; and a person with the hope that such an understanding would help people to better understand the human condition and build a healthier world. He was a member of the political science department, a nationally top-ranked department which, like most political science departments, was traditional and conservative. Yet Mike Rogin was anything but traditional and conservative. His father was a union organizer in the apparel industry who went on to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and taught at the AFL-CIO College. With that background, there was little chance that Mike would be traditional. His first book, McCarthy and the Intellectuals: The Radical Specter, won the American Historical Association’s best book award in 1968. His next major project was to understand the historical origins of American democracy, which produced a book on the foundations of Jacksonian democracy, Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian. This book was completely different from standard political science books, combining historical analysis and psychoanalysis. It was extremely popular with the public, but most political scientists did not know what to do with such a book; not only because the political science orthodoxy did not think much of Freudian psychology, but also because it was used to expose the malicious side of American political development. From this book on, Mike would be marginalized from mainstream political science—just like the people he would continue to study and give voice to. Yet his own desire to make the connections necessary to advance a more complete understanding of American politics, regardless of whether these connections were popular or consistent with the prevailing norms of the academy, provided him with the toughness he would need to take on the role of an outsider. His next book, Subversive Genealogy: The Art and Politics of Herman Melville, was a bold and inventive enterprise, combining literary criticism, history, and political theory. Such a novel project was received with reservation and unease by reviewers in these disciplines, but it remains an intellectual treasure. Rogin’s Ronald Reagan the Movie and Other Episodes in Political Demonology was a collection of papers linking the cultural medium of film to the political culture of the United States. His essay on Ronald Reagan was so intriguing that 60 Minutes did a segment on Rogin and his evidence that President Reagan had difficulty distinguishing between the myths portrayed in his movie roles and the historical facts associated with those roles. Rogin told 60 Minutes that Reagan, like most Americans, was unable to separate the Hollywood screen from everyday life. Needless to say, his thesis was greeted by a good deal of hostility, but his article generated an important public discussion of political reality and Hollywood. Some consider Mike Rogin’s last book to be his best. In Black Face, White Noise: Jewish Immigrants and the Hollywood Melting Pot, he used the very peculiar cultural tradition of minstrel shows to demonstrate how groups considered social pariahs attempt to use the cultural tools at their disposal to realize the “American Dream” and escape their pariah status. Once again, Rogin became the center of controversy. Jews criticized him for portraying them as exploiting African Americans in order to improve their own chances of becoming accepted as Americans, and African Americans criticized him as being too lenient on Jews for becoming successful on the back of racist caricatures. In writing books that incorporate a number of fields, Rogin was exceptional, but he was also an outstanding teacher, mentor, and colleague. He taught a variety of core and elective courses on political theory, political culture, right-wing political movements, and race and gender in politics. He gave a course on Palestine and the Palestinians with Professor Arlie Hochshield of the sociology department. Both professors endured protests by Jewish students who thought such a course was anti-Jewish; Rogin was called “a self-hating Jew who is anti-Israel.” Mike Rogin responded that he was proud of his Jewish heritage, “but as a human being I am simply a person of Jewish background who wants to make a better world, and that is only possible by understanding those who are the least understood and marginalized. The world is for everyone, not just those with power and voice.” professor of sociology |
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