Abstract
This article seeks to add a new theoretical voice to the tradition of genealogical inquiry in political theory and beyond by offering a re-reading of the thought of Hannah Arendt. Going beyond the letter of her thought, in this article I propose that placing Arendt in the genealogical tradition of inquiry (particularly its Foucauldian strand) helps to make sense of what she was “up to” when she turned to history in her work, especially in the analysis of totalitarianism and the account of modernity presented in The Human Condition. I will specifically highlight the historical emergence of “process-thinking” that Arendt traces across her writings. The article seeks to sketch a unique approach to genealogical inquiry that can be taken up by anyone interested in critical analysis of our present age and its politics. Towards the end of the essay, I elaborate this approach methodologically by making a reference to frame analysis. Thus, I articulate a “genealogical frame analysis”, an inquiry into historical emergence of various metaphors and frames that organize our experience of the world. I also highlight the centrality of events for Arendt’s genealogy, as well as its role in a broader set of world-building practices.
Highlights
Genealogy—the problematization of the present through the study of its historical emergence—has arguably become one of the defining methods, or modes of inquiry, in political theory over the last few decades
It seeks to contribute to the aspiration of the present Special Issue of Genealogy of putting different accounts of genealogy into critical cross-interrogation and, one would hope, crossfertilization
To demonstrate that placing her in the genealogical tradition of inquiry helps to make sense of what Arendt was “up to”. When she turned to history in her work
Summary
Genealogy—the problematization of the present through the study of its historical emergence—has arguably become one of the defining methods, or modes of inquiry, in political theory over the last few decades. Arendt’s approach to political theory, the to and from between Arendt and the genealogical tradition can open up new perspectives for political theorists, philosophers, and others for conducting critical historical analysis. The article involves a de- and recontextualization by inserting Arendt in contact with a tradition she did not explicitly engage with—and as my focus lies on contemporary and Foucauldian strands of genealogy, neither could she have Conceptual interventions of this sort can be likened to experimental gardening, with the hope that the exposure of a plant to a new external stimulus (say, a potent nutriment), instead of causing catastrophic mutations, makes it grow new, strong branches beneficial both for itself and the surrounding environment. Contesting this view, I show how the book can be read as a critical history of the present It is essentially concerned with metaphorical-conceptual gestalts we use to make sense of the world and their historical development. I highlight the futural aspects of such analysis, linking it to the broader concerns of democratic world-building
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