Thursday, June 2nd, 15.00 – 16.30, at Società Letteraria
Abstract:
In this paper I inquire the affinities between contemporary politics of reconciliation and Hannah Arendt’s position on violence and politics. Reconciliation is a central topic in the field of conflict resolution and refers to activities that turn the temporary peace of an agreement “after violence” into a lasting end to the conflict itself. What would a politics of reconciliation mean for Arendt? Is there a place for such politics in her thought? I answer these questions by first analysing Arendt’s position on violence and then considering her conception of polis. My starting point is Jacques Taminiaux’ claim that that the Roman experience of the power of plurality to create relationships is wider than the Greek. The basis for this claim is Arendt’s recognition of the political significance of forgiving and promising in the Judeo-Christian and Roman experiences of contracts, alliances and legislative activity. One implication of Taminiaux’ claim is that the Arendtian concept of plurality is transformed from being about ‘equal and different individuals’ to being about ‘unequal and different peoples and nations’. I argue that an Arendtian polis of reconciliation would have to face the challenge of combining these two models.
