Plurality and
Promise of Politics
In the “global present” (Mbembe, 2017), we witness a surge in populist and neo-authoritarian political imaginaries, fostering exclusionary and racist identitarianism in a “new age of extremes” (Benjamin). Simultaneously, neo-nationalist aspirations aim to fortify borders and break down extra-territorial political formations designed to challenge the idea of the sovereign nation-state as an ideal framework for justice. In The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Arendt denounced the aporias inherent in this institutional model, linking it to the histories of imperialism, nation-building violence, and race science that underpinned totalitarian horrors.
Arendt’s Magnes Opus, The Human Condition (1958), articulates this: ‘While all aspects of the human condition are somehow related to politics, this plurality is specifically the condition – not only the conditio sine qua non but also the conditio per quam – of all political life’ (HC). Further into the text, she adds: ‘Sovereignty, […] is always spurious if claimed by an isolated single entity, be it the individual entity of the person or the collective entity of a nation’ (HC).
In our consortium, we are committed to concepts of plurality in a deeply Arendtian sense. We value her philosophical anthropology and political philosophy, seeking scholars interested in a transnational project of global implication. Specifically, our focus is on elucidating the relationship between the concept of plurality, the critique of liberal individualism, and the institutional model of the sovereign nation-state.
Our consortium is also dedicated to political transformation in the contemporary context. Arendtian theory not only helps in analysing the present but also in envisioning alternatives. She emphasizes that the promise of politics, as a relational realm of genuine freedom, is intrinsic to the essential human condition of plurality. Arendt argues that the conditio per quam of politics, often overlooked by hegemonic traditions, remains crucial. If totalitarianism represents the most complete negation of plurality, following Arendt, we can learn to foreshadow the overcoming of political crises precisely by investing in a radically different and alternative idea of politics.
Essential bibliography:
Arendt Hannah, The Human Condition (1958), The University of Chicago Press, 2018, see in particular paragraphs Vita Activa and the Human Condition (pp. 7-11).
Cavarero Adriana, Surging Democracy: Notes on Hannah Arendt’s Political Thought (2019), Stanford University Press, 2021.
Lefort Claude, Hannah Arendt and the Question of the Political, Id., Democracy and Political Theory, University of Minnesota Press, 1988, pp. 45–55.
Lederman Shmuel, Hannah Arendt and Participatory Democracy. A People’s Utopia, Palgrave, 2019.
Mbembe Achille, Critique of Black Reason (2017), Durham, North Caroline: Duke University Press, 2017.
https://www.fesjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2.Mbembe.pdf
Plurality and
Promise of Politics
In the “global present” (Mbembe, 2017), we witness a surge in populist and neo-authoritarian political imaginaries, fostering exclusionary and racist identitarianism in a “new age of extremes” (Benjamin). Simultaneously, neo-nationalist aspirations aim to fortify borders and break down extra-territorial political formations designed to challenge the idea of the sovereign nation-state as an ideal framework for justice. In The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Arendt denounced the aporias inherent in this institutional model, linking it to the histories of imperialism, nation-building violence, and race science that underpinned totalitarian horrors.
Arendt’s Magnes Opus, The Human Condition (1958), articulates this: ‘While all aspects of the human condition are somehow related to politics, this plurality is specifically the condition – not only the conditio sine qua non but also the conditio per quam – of all political life’ (HC). Further into the text, she adds: ‘Sovereignty, […] is always spurious if claimed by an isolated single entity, be it the individual entity of the person or the collective entity of a nation’ (HC).
In our consortium, we are committed to concepts of plurality in a deeply Arendtian sense. We value her philosophical anthropology and political philosophy, seeking scholars interested in a transnational project of global implication. Specifically, our focus is on elucidating the relationship between the concept of plurality, the critique of liberal individualism, and the institutional model of the sovereign nation-state.
Our consortium is also dedicated to political transformation in the contemporary context. Arendtian theory not only helps in analysing the present but also in envisioning alternatives. She emphasizes that the promise of politics, as a relational realm of genuine freedom, is intrinsic to the essential human condition of plurality. Arendt argues that the conditio per quam of politics, often overlooked by hegemonic traditions, remains crucial. If totalitarianism represents the most complete negation of plurality, following Arendt, we can learn to foreshadow the overcoming of political crises precisely by investing in a radically different and alternative idea of politics.
Essential bibliography:
Arendt Hannah, The Human Condition (1958), The University of Chicago Press, 2018, see in particular paragraphs Vita Activa and the Human Condition (pp. 7-11).
Cavarero Adriana, Surging Democracy: Notes on Hannah Arendt’s Political Thought (2019), Stanford University Press, 2021.
Lefort Claude, Hannah Arendt and the Question of the Political, Id., Democracy and Political Theory, University of Minnesota Press, 1988, pp. 45–55.
Lederman Shmuel, Hannah Arendt and Participatory Democracy. A People’s Utopia, Palgrave, 2019.
Mbembe Achille, Critique of Black Reason (2017), Durham, North Caroline: Duke University Press, 2017.
https://www.fesjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2.Mbembe.pdf
Plurality and
Promise of Politics
In the “global present” (Mbembe, 2017), we witness a surge in populist and neo-authoritarian political imaginaries, fostering exclusionary and racist identitarianism in a “new age of extremes” (Benjamin). Simultaneously, neo-nationalist aspirations aim to fortify borders and break down extra-territorial political formations designed to challenge the idea of the sovereign nation-state as an ideal framework for justice. In The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Arendt denounced the aporias inherent in this institutional model, linking it to the histories of imperialism, nation-building violence, and race science that underpinned totalitarian horrors.
Arendt’s Magnes Opus, The Human Condition (1958), articulates this: ‘While all aspects of the human condition are somehow related to politics, this plurality is specifically the condition – not only the conditio sine qua non but also the conditio per quam – of all political life’ (HC). Further into the text, she adds: ‘Sovereignty, […] is always spurious if claimed by an isolated single entity, be it the individual entity of the person or the collective entity of a nation’ (HC).
In our consortium, we are committed to concepts of plurality in a deeply Arendtian sense. We value her philosophical anthropology and political philosophy, seeking scholars interested in a transnational project of global implication. Specifically, our focus is on elucidating the relationship between the concept of plurality, the critique of liberal individualism, and the institutional model of the sovereign nation-state.
Our consortium is also dedicated to political transformation in the contemporary context. Arendtian theory not only helps in analysing the present but also in envisioning alternatives. She emphasizes that the promise of politics, as a relational realm of genuine freedom, is intrinsic to the essential human condition of plurality. Arendt argues that the conditio per quam of politics, often overlooked by hegemonic traditions, remains crucial. If totalitarianism represents the most complete negation of plurality, following Arendt, we can learn to foreshadow the overcoming of political crises precisely by investing in a radically different and alternative idea of politics.
Essential bibliography:
Arendt Hannah, The Human Condition (1958), The University of Chicago Press, 2018, see in particular paragraphs Vita Activa and the Human Condition (pp. 7-11).
Cavarero Adriana, Surging Democracy: Notes on Hannah Arendt’s Political Thought (2019), Stanford University Press, 2021.
Lefort Claude, Hannah Arendt and the Question of the Political, Id., Democracy and Political Theory, University of Minnesota Press, 1988, pp. 45–55.
Lederman Shmuel, Hannah Arendt and Participatory Democracy. A People’s Utopia, Palgrave, 2019.
Mbembe Achille, Critique of Black Reason (2017), Durham, North Caroline: Duke University Press, 2017.
https://www.fesjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2.Mbembe.pdf