In the early 1980s Robinson worked as a journalist in war-torn Nicaragua. He was a member of Union of Nicaraguan Journalists (past member and officer 1984-1990).

He then went on to study for his BA in Journalism with the Friends World College in Nairobi (Kenya), Ibadan (Nigeria), and Coast Rica. Following this he received both his MA in Latin American Studies and his PhD in Sociology at the University of New Mexico.

Robinson has been involved with numerous intense theoretical debates with other historical materialist scholars.

His teaching and a forwarded e-mail in his 2009 "Sociology of Globalization" course has been the object of worldwide controversy. Two of his students brought complaints concerning an e-mail he forwarded for discussion ... titled "parallel images of Nazis and Israelis" ... sent to the students that made a visual image comparison of the Israeli siege and massacres in Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto. The Anti-Defamation League criticized Robinson, considering it a case of academic misconduct, while California Scholars for Academic Freedom consider it a case of academic freedom and the charges without merit.The Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at UCSB has come to Robinson's defence calling the allegations "flagrant and baseless affronts to academic freedom" which "have been brought in order to silence any criticism of Israeli policies and practices." Scholars for Peace in the Middle East said that the incident "raises serious questions about his judgment and the value of his teaching, and that, "Concern for academic freedom does not justify or erase what is clearly and profoundly flawed pedagogy."

University official initiated an investigation of Robinson to probe the allegations of the two students that Robinson's email was inappropriate and in violation of the faculty code of ethics. However, the charges were dismissed in mid-May 2009 (although the university did not announce the dismissal of charges until late June 2009).