From the Publisher
“Kei Hiruta’s new collection represents a decided shift in ways of construing Hannah Arendt’s work. It shifts the focus from the concept of action in her texts to the experience of freedom and revolution in history. The Arab Spring and the on-going refugee crises are as likely to be taken up as the Greek polis or the Roman Republic. Overall, the essays are lively rather than ponderous. Most of all, they allow the vitality of Arendt’s thought to emerge into full evidence.” (Richard H. King, Professor Emeritus of American Intellectual History, University of Nottingham, UK, and author of Arendt and America)
“This volume offers refreshing readings of Hannah Arendt as a theorist of freedom. The contributors expand our interpretive horizon by examining a wide array of Arendt’s works and putting her into conversation with a diverse range of interlocutors such as Isaiah Berlin, Frantz Fanon, Karl Marx, Philip Pettit, and John Rawls. Taking as their “guideposts” what Arendt calls “incidents of living experience,” they offer illuminating reassessments of her arguments in light of challenging contemporary problems.” (Ayten Gündoğdu, Associate Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, USA, and author of Rightlessness in an Age of Rights: Hannah Arendt and the Contemporary Struggles of Migrants)
“What Hannah Arendt wanted was for people to think for themselves, while paying close attention to the crises of their own times. In this volume, the authors have done just that – engaging contemporary political philosophy in conversation with Arendt and with unexpected and unprecedented events unfolding around the world and across the earth in our time. The result is a multi-faceted examination of the political challenges and failures with which we are surrounded. Are there aspects of Arendt’s thought that can assist us to make sense of what is and is not happening today? The verdict from this fine collection of essays is a carefully considered and critically qualified yes. This book is a welcome contribution to contemporary political philosophy.” (Lucy Tatman, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Gender Studies, University of Tasmania, Australia)