Call for Papers
HannahArendt.net - No. 10/2020
Call for Papers: Truth and Politics
Hannah Arendt conceived and wrote her lectures and treatises on the topic of "Truth and Politics" in the 1960s. These were triggered by the massive criticism she faced in the Western world for her book Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963/1964). In the version of "Truth and Politics" included in her collection of essays entitled Between Past and Future in 1968, she makes the following reference: The aim of the treatise is "to clarify two different, though interconnected, issues of which I had not been aware before and whose importance seemed to transcend the occasion. The first concerns the question of whether it is always legitimate to tell the truth - did I believe without qualification in 'Fiat veritas, et pereat mundus'? The second arose through the amazing amount of lies used in the 'controversy' - lies about what I had written, on one hand, and about the facts I had reported, on the other".
More recently, this subject has become toxic, given the global rise of populist movements and the authoritarian manipulation of reality by democratically elected politicians around the world. What could at first have been interpreted as a minor phenomenon has now become the expression of a turning point. While the traditional people's parties are in decline, leadership figures like Trump in the USA, Bolsonaro in Brazil and Erdogan in Turkey have promised a new political style with simple solutions. They propagate the breaking of taboos and deliberately provoke division in both national and international spaces. In social media, the boundaries of civilized behaviour and the rule of law are being flouted, as nationalism, anti-Semitism, Nazism, hatred, lies, fake news and absurd conspiracy theories circulate unhindered.
At the time, Hannah Arendt had compiled a series of thoughts on "Truth and Politics", mostly based on her insights into the system of totalitarian movements and propaganda as elaborated in her book The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951/1955). It seems reasonable to compare them to what we are now experiencing – on a higher level of the Anthropocene – as populism and a new workability of the world under the motto "anything goes".
The next issue of HannahArendt.net focuses on this broad spectrum of ideas. Contributions could, for instance, discuss:
- Conceptual clarifications of "truth" (rational truth / factual truth) and "lie", of “fake news”, of "people" and "populism", and of "change", "elite", "movement" and "party".
- The "shitstorm" phenomenon, a term that has since been incorporated into the German language, and one of its predecessors, which has entered the literature as “an Arendt controversy”.
- The extent to which the technological transformation of public communication spaces fundamentally calls into question or forces the rethinking of categories of communicative transparency, accountability, verifiability, and the possibility of confirming the truth of statements made.
- Recent events associated with this subject matter, such as the propaganda used to justify the Iraq war.
- Erosion of the idea of democracy and theories about the end of democracy (How Democracies Die)
- The revival of conspiracy theories and their diffusion on the Internet.
- The extent to which Arendt's findings on totalitarianism can be applied to the new current situation.
Let us know your topic of choice. You decide on the length of your manuscript, which should be submitted by 30 November 2019! We look forward to receiving your contribution.
The editors - www.hannaharendt.net
