In this episode we discuss what distinguishes politics from other aspects of human existence by looking at Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition and “Reflections on Little Rock.” We question why Arendt is so concerned with defending the distinction between politics, the social, and the private realm and what useful insights can be drawn from these distinctions when analyzing real human history. In addition, we touch on Arendt’s controversial relationship to black politics around integration or as she thought of it black “social climbing.” This might be the one that gets us canceled! 

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References: 

Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, second edition, with an Introduction by Margaret Canovan (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998). 

Hannah Arendt, “Reflection on Little Rock” in The Portable Hannah Arendt, edited by Peter Baier, 231-247 (New York: Penguin Books, 2000). 

Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com