Hannah Arendt and Current Politics: Refugees, Identity, and Feminism

This dissertation is a series of articles that put Hannah Arendt’s political thought in conversation with current social and political phenomena, namely the refugee crisis, political action under the circumstances of oppression, and the neoliberal turn in feminism.

My first chapter joins the contemporary Arendt scholarship that parallels her account of the refugee condition and the current global refugee situation. I first analyze the image of human rights and plurality in The Origins of Totalitarianism and discuss the cosmopolitan response to the issues raised by Arendt. I then argue that The Human Condition offers an opening for a new understanding of Arendtian action that is not tied to traditional citizenship and will thus be more accommodating of refugees.

My second chapter explores the possibility of Arendtian political action under oppression. I offer an analysis of Arendt’s separation of society versus politics and point out the limitation that this distinction places on what forms of action count as properly political. I then argue that in order to overcome this restriction, Arendt needs to recognize that 1) for marginalized groups, navigating both the social and political obstacles involves sacrifices that constitute political action, and 2) our discriminated against identity can become an instrument of political action.

My third chapter offers an Arendtian analysis of neoliberal feminism. I begin by identifying three main ways neoliberal feminism strips the feminist movement of its collective, egalitarian, and emancipatory character. I then introduce Arendt’s account of modern capitalist labor, exclusive and inclusive solidarity, and individual self-transformation in the face of systemic obstacles. I use these Arendtian concepts to point out flaws in neoliberal feminism and offer an alternative that promotes the liberatory goals of the feminist movement.