Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 22, 2006|Volume 35, Number 3

Conference examines the work of German political theorist Hannah Arendt

The work of political philosopher Hannah Arendt will be celebrated in a conference Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29 and 30, that commemorates the centenary of her birth.

"Hannah Arendt at One Hundred: Crises of Our Republics" is sponsored with support from the John K. Castle Fund and is co-organized by the Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics and the Whitney Humanities Center (WHC). It will take place at the WHC, 53 Wall St. All events are free and open to the public.

Arendt (1906-1975), a German political theorist, was born of secular Jewish parents who fled to Paris and then escaped the German military occupation of parts of France by fleeing to the United States in 1941. She taught at various U.S. universities before becoming the first woman appointed to a full professorship at Princeton University in 1959. Her works deal with the nature of power and the subjects of politics, authority and totalitarianism. Her books include "The Human Condition," "The Origins of Totalitarianism," "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil," "On Revolution" and her final work, the unfinished "The Life of the Mind."

According to conference organizers, Arendt's analyses of totalitarian movements have been recalled by many people in connection with the rise of a new form of political terrorism throughout the world and the emergence of religious fundamentalism, including Islamist fundamentalism.

"The phrase 'the banality of evil,' after falling into disrepute for decades, is used with reference to our times," conference organizers note. "It is not only the continuing political relevance of Arendt's thought that motivates the enduring appeal of her philosophy. As new developments in science and technology transform the conditions of life on earth, Arendt's categories of natality, plurality and activity both remind us of the 'human condition' and make us aware how problematic this may become in the future.

"Likewise, as the new global economy and the revolution in means of communication through the rise of electronic media transform the space of the political, questions concerning the boundaries of the demos and the restructuring of the public sphere are placed on our agenda anew," they continue. "In addition to these major concerns, this conference will address recent Arendt scholarship emerging out of the continuing editing and publication of the Hannah Arendt archives."

The conference will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, with a concert, "Rückert and Mahler," featuring German lieder performed by Yale baritone Richard Lalli with undergraduate pianists Alexander Rabin, Andrew Resnick and Alexander Lialios. It will take place in the WHC auditorium.

Events will continue on Friday at 9 a.m. with light breakfast offerings, followed by a welcome and introduction at 9:45 a.m. by Yale faculty member Seyla Benhabib. Friday's sessions and their start times are: "Political Violence and Terror: The Changing Face of the Political" at 10 a.m.; "Institutions, Constitutions and Civil Society" at 1:30 p.m.; and "Reflections on 'The Human Condition'" at 4 p.m. There will be a public reception at 6 p.m.

The titles of Saturday's sessions and their start times are: "Judgment and Evil" at 9 a.m.; "Modernity, Totalitarianism and Jurisdictional Legacies" at 11 a.m.; and "'Provincializing Europe': Hannah Arendt on Antisemitism and Imperialism" at 3 p.m. A roundtable discussion will follow at 5 p.m.

Speakers include faculty members from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, New York and Tel Aviv universities, as well as from the universities of Notre Dame, Maryland, Toronto, Nottingham and Rome, and the New School for Social Research, among others.

For more complete details on the conference, visit www.yale.edu/polisci/info/conferences/Arendt/Arendt.htm or send e-mail to manana.sikic@yale.edu.

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