Reframing Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki Sisterhood, Natality, Queer: Reframing Feminist Interpretations of Hannah Arendt Julian Honkasalo ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki, for public examination in auditorium XII, University main building, on Saturday the 23rd of January 2016, at 12 o’clock. Supervised by Academy Professor Tuija Pulkkinen Gender Studies, University of Helsinki Pre-examined by Professor Linda Zerilli Charles E. Merriam Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, College Faculty Director, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality University of Chicago Professor Simona Forti History of Political Philosophy University of Piemonte Orientale Opponent of public examination Professor Eleni Varikas Political Science, Université Paris 8 © 2016 Julian Honkasalo ISBN 978-951-51-1895-0 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-1896-7 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2016 Abstract Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) did not theorize gender as a political question. None of her major works deal with women’s liberation, women’s rights, or with gendered aspects of power. In her public life, she neither participated nor spoke up in favor of any feminist group. Yet, her works have generated a rich and polyphonic tradition of feminist scholarship. This GLVVHUWDWLRQSURYLGHVWKH¿UVWPRQRJUDSKOHQJWKV\VWHPDWLFH[DPLQDWLRQRIIRXUGHFDGHV of feminist responses to Arendt’s political thought. In this study I ask how and for what purposes have feminist interpreters of Arendt singled out concepts and topics for scrutiny and debate in their efforts to understand the absence of a theory of gender in Arendt’s oeuvre. Why has precisely Hannah Arendt been so widely and passionately read by feminist theorists, despite the fact that she did not engage in this ¿HOGRILQTXLU\DWDOO" By analyzing and contextualizing how each text in feminist secondary literature on Arendt constitutes a distinct response to her silence on gender, and by then grouping these responses, WKLVVWXG\¿QGVWKDWIHPLQLVWHIIRUWVWRPDNHVHQVHRIWKHDEVHQFHRIDWKHRU\RIJHQGHULQ Arendt’s political thinking can best be understood through a threefold categorization. First, Anglophone, early second wave sisterhood-interpretations approach Arendt through the conceptual pairs of “the public” and “the private”, and “the social and the political”, arriving at the conclusion that Arendt is a masculine anti-feminist. Second, Continental, French and Italian interpretations on the other hand operate with Arendt’s concept of “natality” and regard Arendt as a female genius. Finally, postmodern and queer readings highlight concepts such as “unique distinctness”, “speech and action” and “pariahdom”, establishing Arendt as a precursor to feminist elaborations on performativity as well as critiques of identity politics. I contend that taken together, these three feminist perspectives form a prism through which not only Arendt’s enigmatic silence on gender becomes meaningful, but also the history of contemporary feminist political theorizing emerges as a highly polyphonic tradition. Hence, there is no single, univocal feminist theory or feminism that can be applied to Arendt’s texts in order to answer the question of how and why she left questions related to gender and sexuality unanswered. Instead, Arendt’s account on gender and sexuality can only be grasped through multiple perspectives and multiple feminist voices. Acknowledgments First and foremost I want to thank my supervisor, Academy Professor Tuija Pulkkinen for her experience, encouragement, and advice as well as for our long conversations on the thought of Arendt. I am deeply thankful for having had the opportunity to live and conduct research both in Finland and in the USA. This would not have been possible without the support of Prof. Pulkkinen and her project. This dissertation was conducted while being a member of Professor Pulkkinen’s team of doctoral students. Anna Elomäki, Sanna Karhu, Heini Kinnunen, Jacek Kornak, Mervi Patosalmi, Heta Rundgren, Soili Petäjäniemi-Brown and Eeva Urrio have read and commented various parts and drafts of this manuscript over a period of several years. Their deeply insightful comments have shaped not only my conception of how Arendt responded or did not respond to the “woman question”, but more importantly, they have taught me how to navigate the vast terrain of Western political philosophy from a feminist and queer perspective. Guest professors were regular visitors to our PhD seminar. I wish to thank Prof. Athina Athanasiou, Prof. Penelope Deutcher, Prof. Denise Riley and Prof. Susan Lettow for invaluable comments to earlier chapter drafts. My two pre-examiners, Prof. Linda Zerilli and Prof. Simona Forti provided valuable FRPPHQWVRQWKH¿UVW¿QDOL]HGGUDIWRIWKHPDQXVFULSW,ZLVKWRWKDQNWKHPERWK,DOVR thank Mark Shackleton for language corrections and Felicia Honkasalo for the layout to WKH¿QDOPDQXVFULSW During the years that I conducted research for this manuscript, I have been enrolled as a PhD student also at The New School for Social Research. I want to thank the faculty and students of the Department of Political Science and the Department of Philosophy for intellectually stimulating discussions and rigorously honest feedback on my thinking. For several years, the politics department in particular has helped me to understand the complex terrain of 20th century political thought. I want to warmly thank Prof. Andreas Kalyvas, Prof. Dick Bernstein, Prof. Chiara Bottici, Prof. Banu Bargu, Prof. Nancy Fraser and Prof. Ann Snitov. I am privileged and honored to have had the best teachers and mentors. I thank Jerry Kohn for his enthusiastic interest in my questions on the details of Arendt’s thinking and personal life, no matter what topic I was working on. His encyclopedic knowledge of Arendt is invaluable for any young student navigating the writings of Arendt. I also want to thank Prof. Dana Villa for his intellectual support and friendship, as well as his healthy sarcasm regarding the ivory tower of academic, “professional philosophers”, as Arendt herself would put it. I have had the pleasure to present early versions of my ideas at numerous international conferences and workshops on Arendt’s thought. I wish to thank Prof. Judith Butler and her students at The European Graduate School’s “Hannah Arendt – The Ethics of Responsibility” seminar for discussions on Arendt’s ethics. I am particularly grateful to Nikki Moore and Prof. Wolfgang Schirmacher for making my participation possible. I am also particularly thankful for having had the opportunity to participate in two annual Hannah Arendt Circle –meetings, at De Paul University as well as Stony Brook Manhattan. I also want to thank Prof. Roger Berkowitz / Bard College, Ely Torrego / CAIP Chile, Prof. Buck Den Ouden / University of Hartford, Ulrika Björk / Södertörn University, Prof. Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir / University of Iceland and Andrius Dranseika / Vilnius University. ,DOVRZLVKWRZDUPO\WKDQNP\LQÀXHQWLDOWHDFKHUVGXULQJP\0$VWXGLHVLQSKLORVRSK\ and politics at the University of Helsinki: Prof. Mika Ojakangas, Martina Reuter, Tapio Lovio, Iivi Masso, Prof. Sara Heinämaa, Johanna Oksala, Miira Tuominen, Prof. Sami Pihlström, Tommi Lehtonen, and Prof. Matti Sintonen. Throughout the years, colleagues and friends within and outside academia have shown support in numerous ways. I want to warmly thank Dechen Albero, Kamal and Tuula Aranki, Mariana Assis, Michael von Boguslawski, Riva Cohen, Chris Crews, Sarah Douglas, Marcus Ekholm, Firas Elmasri, Katarina Erlandsson, Brandon Fischer, Ella Fitzsimmons, Samuel Galloway, Omar Ghannoum, Ilpo Halonen, Brian Jackson, Krista Johansson, Nina Järviö, Kati Kaihlaranta, Auli Kaipainen, Marina Kaneti, Suzie Kondi, Nitzan Krimsky, Can Kurban, Pavlina Lewandowska, Jussi Luukka, Kirsi Markkanen, Dragica Mikavica, Tuija Modinos, Osborn Mutapa, Jenni Müller, Pauline Park, Elina Penttinen, Darryll Pierre, Ricky Price, Aili Pyhälä, Anni Rintala, Marika Rosenborg, Elsa Saisio, Renuka Sawhney, Lisa Stenmark, Iman Taha, Tuomo Tiisala, Alexis Turner, Linda Tverin, Sinna Virtanen, Howell Williams, Katinka Weissmann, Alexandria Zawaski, Fatema Zoheny, Marianne =RKHQ\DQG¿QDOO\P\(th St family. A work of this scope requires an extensive amount of research and exchange of ideas with scholars from multiple disciplines. My dissertation could not have been conducted without WKH¿QDQFLDOVXSSRUWRIVHYHUDOLQVWLWXWLRQV,GHHSO\WKDQN7KH$FDGHP\RI)LQODQG (CoE Pol Con), Alfred Kordelin Foundation, American Scandinavian Foundation, ASLA- Fulbright Foundation, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finnish Concordia Foundation, DQG2VNDUgÀXQG)RXQGDWLRQ I wish to thank my lively and loving family members: Emil, Tahira, Antti, Eemeli, Felicia, Ernest, Veronika, Timo and Laura. I also want to thank my parents, Marja-Liisa and Antero IRUWKHLUHPRWLRQDOPRUDODQG¿QDQFLDOVXSSRUW0\PRWKHUKDVDOZD\VVKRZQGHHSWUXVW and respect for the work of my mind and my father has always encouraged me to follow my intuition and look one more step further. This dissertation project could not have been possible without their loving and encouraging, continuing support. I also wish to respect the memory of my grandmother Leena and my grandfather Jorma by expressing gratitude for the numerous discussions and conversations we had. Special, loving gratitude goes to my nonhuman

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