Hannah arendtperhaps surprisinglyalso draws upon this tradition in her analysis of civil disobedience in the united states of america. Hannah arendt on civil disobedience and constitutional patriotism. Despite the huge critical literature on arendt, her ideas on civil disobedience have seldom received indepth analysis. The author points out that civil disobedience to laws that some portion of the population finds offensive is. For arendt, the greatest civil disobedience movements indian independence, civil rights, and the antiwar movement took inspiration from thoreau but added a vital commitment to mass.
Why hannah arendt argued that civil disobedience pioneer. The second section delineates her debts to montesquieu in this regard. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral. The war with mexico was not declared until 1846, whereas thoreau had refused to pay his tax as early as 1843. Aug 25, 2018 for arendt, the greatest civil disobedience movements indian independence, civil rights, and the antiwar movement took inspiration from thoreau but added a vital commitment to mass. Yet his theory of dissent would have its dissenters, too. Article information, pdf download for reclaiming the revolutionary spirit. A collection of studies in which arendt, from the standpoint of a political philosopher, views the crises of the 1960s and early 1970s as challenges to the american form of.
Aug 17, 2018 for arendt, an exemplary moment of power preserving the public space is the act of civil disobedience, especially the various movements during the turbulent decades of the mid twentiethcentury in the united states, on which arendt wrote. Arendt is in agreement with martin luther king when she notes that not the law, but civil disobedience brought into the open the american dilemma, and, perhaps for the first time, forced upon the nation the recognition of the enormity of the crime, not just of slavery but of chattel slavery. Through enacting unjust laws, government has abused the legitimacy it has been entrusted with. In arendt s understanding, they are truly political if they serve a horizontal alliance between all citizens, which respects plurality and diverse opinions. Civil disobedience, the refusal to obey certain laws, is a method of protest famously articulated by philosopher and writer henry david thoreau in his 1849 essay civil disobedience. For philosophy, to pay society its due respect is to attend it, i. From ghandi to martin luther king jr, people have used civil disobedience to enact change. Civil disobedience by hannah arendt linkedin slideshare. Change the world, not yourself, or how arendt called. The author points out that civil disobedience to laws that some portion of the population finds offensive is effective as a way of getting laws to change.
Seyla benhabib breaking silence, hannah arendt, and martin. In her 1970 essay civil disobedience arendt defended the right of american citizens to dissent from the laws and policies of the government, and in this dissertation i use arendts argument as a way of examining themes central to her work, and as a basis for my own. In citing the war, he was simply taking advantage of the fact that the war was a particularly unpopular one in the north. Jan 14, 2018 arendt is in agreement with martin luther king when she notes that not the law, but civil disobedience brought into the open the american dilemma, and, perhaps for the first time, forced upon the nation the recognition of the enormity of the crime, not just of slavery but of chattel slavery. The core of arendts argument about civil disobedience is that it. Hannah arendt quotes author of eichmann in jerusalem. The crises of the republic is a book that clearly diagnoses political problems in the united states which she states undermine both civil liberties and government honesty. Miss arendt demolishes this conclusion by writing that a public demonstraion by its very nature is not a secret conspiracy. In her 1970 essay civil disobedience arendt defended the right of american citizens to dissent from the laws and policies of the government, and in this dissertation i use arendt s argument as a way of examining themes central to her work, and as a basis for my own. Her earliest reporting for the new yorker became the 1963 book. Hannah arendt, the author of the origins of totalitarianism, died in 1975. Arendt objects to the way in which legalistic and moral approaches attempt to justify civil disobedience by drawing on the image of the conscientious objector whose motivations are based on subjective reasons of conscience, or the constitutional testing of individuals who violate the law in order to test a particular statute or policy.
What rustin calls a revolution, hannah arendt calls politics, and she names that revolutionary politics civil disobedience. Mass civil disobedience movements generate momentum, apply pressure, and shift political discourse. Summaries hannah arendt, in her essay titled civil disobedience examines the origins, role, and effectiveness of civil disobedience in contemporary society. Thoreau believed that protest became a moral obligation when laws collided with conscience. School of history, queen mary university of london. Reclaiming the public space of debate is an effective. Civil disobedience the question to be considered in this essay and the next one is whether, and under what circumstances, there is a moral right to break the law for moral or political reasons. Hannah arendt famously saw in civil disobedience a means by which to re energise the american political system. If action is essentially beginning, and beginning is best exemplified by revolutionary founding, and founding finally is completed in the refounding that is civil disobedience, then civil disobedience is the fulfilment of arendt s political doctrine. The initiatory function of civil disobedience perhaps explains why arendt is unwilling to follow the convention of assuming a hardandfast distinction between it and revolution. According to arendt, the greatest fallacy in current discussions of civil disobedience is the assumption that one is dealing with the individuals who put themselves subjectively and conscientiously against the laws of the community. In the context of the united states, arendt s proposal includes inviting representatives of civil disobedience movements to influence and assist congress by means of persuasion, qualified opinion. Brief but helpful discussions can be found in dana villa 1996 arendt and heidegger.
Civil disobedience in the thought of hannah arendt researchgate. View article published in the print edition of the september 12, 1970, issue. From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the sparknotes civil disobedience study guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays. Hannah arendt famously saw in civil disobedience a means by which to reenergise the american political system. In the meantime, this emphasis on its political aspect has become routine, to the extent that civil disobedience has come to form part of the contemporary political lexicon. Civil disobedience and deliberative democracy download. Motto in civil disobedience, thoreau society bulletin, 67. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. The political theorist hannah arendt wrote an essay on civil disobedience, published in. Arendt, from the standpoint of a political philosopher, views the crises of the 1960s and early 70s as challenges to the american form of government. For both rustin and arendt, civil disobedience is a revolutionary form of politics.
Citations of this essay will henceforth appear in text with the initials cd. Starting with a minimal definition of civil disobedience, the article introduces hannah arendts approach for a legitimisation of civil disobedience. Reflections on civil disobedience in hannah arendt stefania fantauzzi phd, reseacher, philosophy and gender seminar, university of barcelona address. Hannah arendt 1972 civil disobedience, in hannah arendt, crises of the republic, pp. The tradition of civil disobedience in america seems to be in pretty good health.
I shall assume that if there is such a moral right then there is. Aug 22, 2018 mass civil disobedience movements generate momentum, apply pressure, and shift political discourse. The first section argues that arendt is a socalled agonistic constitutionalist. Civil disobedience is an act of refusal by a large group of people against certain laws. Reclaiming the revolutionary spiritarendt on civil disobedience. Part of american political history in the late 1960s included dissent and civil disobedience. The core of arendts argument about civil disobedience is that it is a means of active and collective political dissent. To get back to the founding principles, as articulated in the declaration of independence, zinn argues that we are going to need to go outside the law, to stop obeying the laws that demand killing or that allocate wealth the way it has been done, or. A theme that runs throughout arendts essay on civil disobedience is that lawyers typically fail to grasp its true meaning. Arendt does means that those engaged in civil disobedience are attempting to reclaim the public space of debate. Nov 18, 2014 champions of the democratic approach include hannah arendt, reflections on civil disobedience, the new yorker september 12, 1970, and jurgen habermas, civil disobedience. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. Civil disobedience has been used by the people to get the attention of their government and to hopefully inspire change. Sarala kalla, hannah arendt on civil disobedience philpapers.
Oct 20, 2015 civil disobedience by hannah arendt 1. According to arendt, current discussions of civil disobedience is the assumption that one is dealing with the individuals. Arendts concept of civil disobedience also has significant differences with respect to the well known one of john rawls, a liberal usamerican philosopher. The contention of this chapter is that her republican recasting of this tradition cannot speak to the injustice of arbitrary exclusion from the original contract. Recent examples, including the occupy movement, disruption of the functioning of abortion clinics, and even the release of classified government documents by edward snowden and chelsea manning, suggest that it is alive and kicking. Thoughts on politics and revolution, cast in the form of an interview, contains a commentary to the authors theses in on violence. In the context of the united states, arendts proposal includes inviting representatives of civil disobedience movements to influence and assist congress by means of persuasion, qualified opinion. I shall assume that if there is such a moral right then there is a presumption for giving it legal recognition.
Click download or read online button to get civil disobedience and deliberative democracy book now. Litmus test for the democratic constitutional state, berkeley journal of sociology 30 1985. On the specific political nature of civil disobedience following the personal example and doctrine of differ. The trouble with eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. Those in power claimed that public demonstrations against the vietnam war and the draft were part of a secret conspiracy. This book was first published in 1969 in the midst of the controversy over the vietnam war. Given mayor bloombergs clearing of zuccotti park just shy of the ows twomonth anniversary, and the escalating tensions between police and protesters at occupy sites across the country, a cluster of questions surrounding the meaning and uses of civil disobedience come once again to the fore. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. This chapter explores the place of civil disobedience in hannah arendts work to generate an account of constitutionalism in which the rule of law and democracy are mutually constitutive rather than opposed principles.
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