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Hannah Arendt

On Violence

The political theorist and author of The Origins of Totalitarianism offers an “incisive, deeply probing” essay on violence and political power (The Nation).
Addressing the escalation of global warfare witnessed throughout the 1960s, Hannah Arendt points out that the glorification of violence is not restricted to a small minority of militants and extremists. The public revulsion for violence that followed World War II has dissipated, as have the nonviolent philosophies of the early civil rights movement.
Contemplating how this reversal came about and where it might lead, Arendt examines the relationship between war and politics, violence and power. She questions the nature of violent behavior and identifies the causes of its many manifestations. Ultimately, she argues against Mao Tse-tung’s dictum that “power grow out of the barrel of a gun,” proposing instead that “power and violence are opposite; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.”
“Written with clarity and grace, it provides an ideal framework for understanding the turbulence of our times.”—The Nation
130 printed pages
Original publication
1970
Publication year
1970
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Quotes

  • evajiselhas quoted2 years ago
    THESE REFLECTIONS were provoked by the events and debates of the last few years as seen against the background of the twentieth century, which has become indeed, as Lenin predicted, a century of wars and revolutions, hence a century of that violence which is currently believed to be their common denominator.
  • Ana S. Arangohas quoted4 years ago
    economic systems, political philosophies, and corpora juris serve and extend the war system, not vice versa
  • Ana S. Arangohas quoted4 years ago
    the revolution of technology, a revolution in toolmaking, was especially marked in warfare.

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