Hannah Arendt A Critical Introduction

Hannah Arendt is one of the most famous political theorists of the twentieth century, yet in the social sciences her work has rarely been given the attention it deserves. This careful and comprehensive study introduces Arendt to a wider audience.Finn Bowring shows how Arendt's writings have engaged with and influenced prominent figures in the sociological canon, and how her ideas may shed light on some of the most pressing social and political problems of today. He explores her critique of Marx, her relationship to Weber, the influence of her work on Habermas and the parallels and discrepancies between her and Foucault. This is a clearly written and scholarly text which surveys the leading debates over Arendt'¬"s work, including discussions of totalitarianism, the public sphere and the nature of political responsibility. This book will bring new perspectives to students and lecturers in sociology and politics.

Finn Bowring is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. He is the author of André Gorz and the Sartrean Legacy (2000), and Science, Seeds and Cyborgs: Biotechnology and the Appropriation of Life (2003). His writing has also appeared in numerous scholarly journals, such as New Left Review, Telos, Radical Philosophy, Sociology, Capital and Class, Social Science and Medicine, Sociological Review, Anarchist Studies, and Critical Social Policy.

Introduction: Time for Action   
1 The Vita Activa
2  Critique of Modernity
3 The Fate of the Political
4 Marxism, Ecology and Culture
5 Feminism, the Social and the Political
6 Imperialism, Racism and Bureaucracy
7 Totalitarianism
8 In Search of the Subject
9 The Vita Contemplativa   
Conclusion: Going Astray with Arendt  
References 
Index