ISR COVID-19 Blog

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Institute for Social Responsibility COVID-19 Blog Perspectives

Hannah Arendt: A Theorist for Troubled Times 24th April 2020 Paul Bunyan a time of existential threat, Hannah A tArendt is, I believe, a good theorist to turn to in troubled times. Throughout her career Arendt addressed many existential themes, most notably, totalitarianism and the so-called “banality of evil”, in her study of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. As a political theorist, however, Arendt was most interested in the positive meaning of human plurality, in particular the potential of people to act in concert in the public realm. In framing her theory of public action, Arendt employed two important distinctions which I think are particularly pertinent to the present crisis – the distinction between the private and public, and the social and political. First, the private and public. Confined to our private domains, the present crisis has, like no other within living memory, heightened awareness of the contrast between the private and public. The stark images of empty public landmarks and spaces remind us of the significance of place and how much we perhaps take it for granted. We look out on a public world, both grateful that a powerful state can, to an extent, ameliorate the devastating impact of the virus, but also mindful of the way in which social divisions and inequalities have further been laid bare by the crisis. As the journalist Emily Maitlis powerfully attested to recently on Newsnight, the virus does not affect everyone equally. It is the less well-off who will be most affected and who rely most on public goods and services. For those with sufficient private means, the crisis will have a less disproportionate impact. That said, the crisis has attuned us to how much we depend upon key workers, many in low status and low paid roles. The example of the tragedy, some might say scandal, of the plight of care homes during the epidemic will surely mean that it cannot be business as usual post-virus. Or will it?

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This is where Arendt’s second and related distinction, between the social and political, is I believe, particularly apposite. Arendt was keen to protect the autonomy of the political from economic-social rationality, which has been the hallmark of neoliberalism over recent decades. According to Arendt the rightful place of the political is the public domain; the economic and social, what Arendt regarded as the realm of necessity; she assigned to the private realm. She has been criticized by other theorists for what they regard as too rigid a demarcation between the social/economic on one side and the political, on the other. That said, I believe her distinction brings into sharp relief the very difficult choices that lie ahead. The social and economic impact of the epidemic, we are told, is likely to cause great damage for some time. The benevolence of government will not last. Clapping for NHS and key workers is an important gesture during a time of national crisis. The big question going forward is whether the good will of the people will translate to concerted and sustained public action to ensure that it is not business as usual post-crisis. Paul Bunyan is a lecturer in Social Science and Programme Leader for Childhood and Youth Studies at Edge Hill University. Image Hannah Arendt in 1944. Portrait by photographer Fred Stein (1909-1967) who emigrated 1933 from Nazi Germany to France and finally to the USA. Fred Stein/Press Association. All rights reserved.


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Returning to ‘normal’: Better or Worse for those with special need and/or disabilities?

2min
page 51

To the Moon and Back: Summing up the ISR/EHU Covid-19 Blog

10min
pages 53-56

Staging Apocalypse: Endgame, by Samuel Beckett

2min
page 52

Covid-19: Liberation from the Clock (for some

2min
page 50

Listen up! Schools have always been much more than places for Education

2min
page 49

Experts at Bereavement?

2min
page 48

Covid-19, Higher Education and the rise of video-based learning

2min
page 47

Streaming and CGI? The future of TV and Film after COVID-19?

2min
page 44

Can the new Labour Leadership Rise to the Challenge?

2min
page 46

Creative Resilience and going OFFLine during Lockdown

2min
page 45

Covid-19: Hollywood’s Next 9/11?

2min
page 43

Towards a ‘Next Normal’: HE and Reflection at Speed

2min
page 42

Epidemics: A View from Italy

2min
page 41

Covid-19: An Opportunity for Nature and Outdoor Education

2min
page 40

Emerging from Lockdown: Shared Experience as we (re)commune together

2min
page 39

How to Stay ‘Engaged’ at a Distance: Youth Work and COVID-19

2min
page 35

Everyday Creativity: Why the Arts need to Rethink What Matters

2min
page 38

Coming Out” and Covid-19

2min
page 36

Flattening the Acceptance Curve: Transitioning a more Inclusive World after COVID-19

2min
page 34

Pandemics, Prohibition and the Past: COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

2min
page 33

We Make the Road by Walking: A ‘Kinder’ Society after COVID-19?

2min
page 37

Constructing a ‘New Normal’: What Changes when it’s all over?

2min
page 32

The Road to Nowhere? Tourism after Covid-19

3min
page 31

COVID-19 and Child Abuse in Institutions

2min
page 30

Citizen Science to tackle Poor Air Quality post COVID-19

3min
page 29

Images in the Head; the Pervasiveness of Dreaming in Isolation

3min
page 28

Dig where you stand: Histories of where you live in a Global Pandemic

2min
page 27

Blitzed by Myths: The ‘Spirit’ of the Blitz and COVID-19

3min
page 26

New Realities? New Culture? What next for HR post Covid-19?

2min
page 25

Temporary or Fixed? Changing Business Models in a Global Pandemic

2min
page 24

An Outcome of the Coronavirus Outbreak

2min
page 23

Re-imagining a ‘Good Society’ in the wake of COVID-19

2min
page 22

Lockdown and Educational Inequality: Some Reflections

2min
page 21

Coronavirus and Calais refugees: How can you stay safe without soap?

2min
page 20

Wither Fake News: COVID-19 and its Impact on Journalism

2min
page 19

COVID-19: Lockdown when you are Locked Up

2min
page 17

Ministry without the Ministered: Reflections from a Vicar in Lockdown

2min
page 16

In Troubled Times, Philosophy CAN Help

2min
page 18

COVID-19 & the (dis)proportionate case for lockdown

3min
page 14

Who Needs Society? Authoritarianism and COVID-19

2min
page 15

What future for the politician’s ‘Direct Address’?

4min
page 12

COVID-19 lockdown: What are the implications for individual freedom?

2min
page 13

Fingerprints, DNA and Policing Powers during COVID-19

3min
page 9

What is the new ‘normal’? Autism, Routine and Covid-19

3min
page 11

Lockdown 2020 – The Impact on Social Care

1min
page 8

Hannah Arendt: A Theorist for Troubled Times

2min
page 10

Back in the USSR: C-19 and the Normalising of a Surveillance State

2min
page 3

The Arts and COVID-19: A Time of Danger and Opportunity?

2min
page 7

Where is the Balance – Democracy in the Lockdown

4min
page 6

Is it kindness that matters?

7min
pages 4-5
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