Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt

The article examines what it calls the “politics-as-resistance” frame in contemporary political theory, originating in the works of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. This way of organizing political experience is contrasted with Hannah Arendt’s political thought, particularly her writings on revolu...

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Main Author: Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Helsinki University Press 2016-09-01
Series:Redescriptions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal-redescriptions.org/articles/69
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spelling doaj-adb21ec08580405ead0c50464e7871cf2020-11-25T02:22:07ZengHelsinki University PressRedescriptions 2308-09142016-09-0119219121310.7227/R.19.2.570Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in EgyptAri-Elmeri Hyvönen0University of JyväskyläThe article examines what it calls the “politics-as-resistance” frame in contemporary political theory, originating in the works of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. This way of organizing political experience is contrasted with Hannah Arendt’s political thought, particularly her writings on revolutionary action. Arendt’s often overlooked – and partly unpublished – passages on 'virtù' and 'fortuna' are further suggested as important additions to her thinking on action. I argue that Arendt’s “world-centric” approach can illuminate certain aspects of political experience that remain dimmed in the more subject-oriented politics- as-resistance frame. Particular focus is paid to the austere notion of freedom in politics-as-resistance, its overly process-oriented presentation of political temporality, underdeveloped approach to institutions, and insufficient exploration of the joyful end of the affective register of action. In the last part of the article, the tragedy of the Egyptian 2011 revolution is discussed as an illustration of the arguments.https://journal-redescriptions.org/articles/69hannah arendtmichel foucaultjudith butleractionresistancefreedom
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen
spellingShingle Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen
Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
Redescriptions
hannah arendt
michel foucault
judith butler
action
resistance
freedom
author_facet Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen
author_sort Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen
title Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
title_short Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
title_full Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
title_fullStr Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
title_full_unstemmed Political Action Beyond Resistance: Arendt and “Revolutionary Spirit” in Egypt
title_sort political action beyond resistance: arendt and “revolutionary spirit” in egypt
publisher Helsinki University Press
series Redescriptions
issn 2308-0914
publishDate 2016-09-01
description The article examines what it calls the “politics-as-resistance” frame in contemporary political theory, originating in the works of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. This way of organizing political experience is contrasted with Hannah Arendt’s political thought, particularly her writings on revolutionary action. Arendt’s often overlooked – and partly unpublished – passages on 'virtù' and 'fortuna' are further suggested as important additions to her thinking on action. I argue that Arendt’s “world-centric” approach can illuminate certain aspects of political experience that remain dimmed in the more subject-oriented politics- as-resistance frame. Particular focus is paid to the austere notion of freedom in politics-as-resistance, its overly process-oriented presentation of political temporality, underdeveloped approach to institutions, and insufficient exploration of the joyful end of the affective register of action. In the last part of the article, the tragedy of the Egyptian 2011 revolution is discussed as an illustration of the arguments.
topic hannah arendt
michel foucault
judith butler
action
resistance
freedom
url https://journal-redescriptions.org/articles/69
work_keys_str_mv AT arielmerihyvonen politicalactionbeyondresistancearendtandrevolutionaryspiritinegypt
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