Agonist and conservative strands in Hannah Arendt: a more systemic approach to Arendtian political thought

Abstract

The main subject of this thesis is setting forth an account of Arendtian political theory that can play an important role in contemporary debates in political theory. Besides Arendt herself, I take a look at many of the authors who have appropriated or interpreted her thought since the second half of the 20th century. These authors mainly fall in the political theoretical doctrine of either agonism (such as Bonnie Honig and Dana R. Villa) or liberalism (such as Habermas). I argue for an Arendtian account that is neither. By making explicit leidmotifs in Arendt's body of work over time, rather than taking my cues from a single work, I argue that appropriations of Arendt in either a consensus-based or a contestation-based model of politics miss the point Arendt tries to make. Ultimately, as I compare the work of Arendt to that of Michael Oakeshott I come to understand Arendtianism as a type of political conservatism.