Hannah Arendt as Political Actor

Abstract

This Research Note is based on documentary material that has been for the most part unexplored, i.e., letters and other documents pertaining to Hannah Arendt's relationship with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, on her work with Nancy and Dwight Macdonald for the Spanish Refugee Aid Organization, on her anti-war activities (as well as causes she disavowed), and on her influence on American law discussions. It also analyzes and evaluates Arendt's views on political action, her own and that of others, and uses the earlier findings to illuminate both as well as reconcile her often contradictory statements on the dichotomy between thinking by oneself and acting in concert.