The origins of Hannah Arendt's council system

• Autores: James Muldoon
• Localización: History of political thought, ISSN 0143-781X, Vol. 37, Nº 4, 2016, págs. 761-789
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This article reconsiders Arendt's frequently ignored proposal of a federal council system. While Arendt's references to a council system are usually dismissed by her interpreters, I re-examine Arendt's political writings in order to demonstrate the centrality of the councils to her thought. The development of the council system is traced back to two primary sources: a council communist tradition of Rosa Luxemburg and Arendt's husband, Heinrich Blücher, and Arendt's Jewish writings of the 1930s and 1940s. The analysis reveals that Arendt's republicanism undertakes a council communist inflection, which has not yet been fully appreciated. Her distinct variety of council republicanism emphasizes the participatory and popularly empowered nature of council institutions.