Abstract
Hannah Arendt suggests the pivotal problems of modern society to be man’s susceptibility to ideological patterns of thought and behaviour and the compulsion under which he performs labour. Her depiction of these phenomena can however be seen as rather one-dimensional. Since the redemptive concept of politics which she proposes as a kind of worldly realm for unconstrained human relationships, is based upon her fragile analyses of ideology and labour, this concept’s persuasive power is limited. Arendt’s striking powers of observation are more effective in areas where social domination is taken to the extreme, whereas in the face of basic social constraints she seems to be perplexed.
Zusammenfassung
Hannah Arendt kennzeichnet die Gefahr ideologischer Verblendung sowie die bei der Arbeit vorherrschenden Zwänge als zentrale Probleme der modernen Gesellschaft. Ihre Analysen von Ideologie und Arbeit bleiben jedoch eindimensional. Dies mindert die Überzeugungskraft ihrer These, dass für einen zwischenmenschlichen Austausch, der einem verantwortungsvollen Miteinander verpflichtet und von Zwängen befreit ist, ein separater politischer Raum geschaffen werden muss. In Bezug auf gesellschaftliche Extremsituationen kommt Arendts beeindruckende Beobachtungsgabe zum Tragen; angesichts alltäglicher Herrschaftsverhältnisse jedoch scheint sie mitunter ratlos zu sein.
Note
I have had the opportunity to discuss earlier drafts of this article with Lukas Betzler, Karen Bo, Jan-Hauke Branding, Felix Breuning, Ingo Elbe, Jorma Heier, Liza Mattutat, Jan Müller, Jan Rickermann and Matthias Spekker. Their comments have been invaluable.
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