An Evaluation of Hannah Arendt's Theorization of Loneliness

• In Event: Poster Session: Foundations of Political Theory & Technological Change and Societal Conflict
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Foundations of Political Theory

Abstract

Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism ends on a particularly dour note. Having devoted hundreds of pages attempting to make sense of the experience of totalitarianism, she turns to the condition of mass loneliness in modern Western societies and concludes that such a condition can foster the reemergence of totalitarian politics. Recently, Hillary Clinton and Senator Chris Murphy have independently written essays in national publications naming loneliness as one of the greatest existential threats to the country. They both connect mass loneliness to the rise of right-wing politics. Whether directly or indirectly, intentionally or accidentally, this contemporary discourse echoes Arendt’s analysis from Origins. Her choice to end the text addressing loneliness is dramatic, which makes it quite odd that such an apparently great danger to the future of politics all but disappears from her subsequent work. Added to its disappearance as a topic of interest, she spends relatively miniscule time in Origins actually theorizing loneliness. These two factors pose a problem: can we rely on Arendt’s analysis and theoretical framework given both her relatively modest treatment of loneliness and its apparent disappearance from her concerns? The aim of my paper is to answer this question. My main approach is to evaluate whether her understanding of loneliness and the way she connects it to her analysis of totalitarianism is consistent with her subsequent writings on the political and social. If we come to find them consistent then we can bring her insights on the phenomenon of mass loneliness to bear on our contemporary political world with more confidence. If, on the other hand, her thinking on loneliness is not consistent with her subsequent theoretical work, it throws into question ready willingness to connect mass loneliness to right-wing politics via appeals to her work. As our contemporary discourse shows, loneliness remains an issue of political interest regardless, so a clear-sighted evaluation of the political theorist most commonly associated with the subject is imperative.

Author

• Zachary Durec, University of California, Davis