Arendtian Plurality in the World of Enmity

• In Event: Enmity, War, and Peace in the History of Political Thought

Abstract

Arendt’s critique of violence is well known. Scholars have examined the implications of her politics of plurality which is far from rulership, enforcement, and violence. What is less explored is the extent to which this politics proper can be put into practice in the actual contexts of politics in which the friend and enemy distinction is often taken for granted. This paper argues that implementing Arendt’s plural politics is not impossible in the world of enmity, if we conceive of enmity according to two levels of politics (macro and micro). Constant vigilance against an emerging force that could constitute an enemy creates a chain of threat formation at the macro level of politics. This misleads us into thinking that any act of striving for survival overwhelms and destroys plural politics. Viewed from the micro angle of politics, however, the same act of survival only deals with a concrete threat for a time; that is, the fight does not set up a permanent enemy, as it allows for the variation of threat. If the actual object of enmity keeps changing, then the situation requires public discussion of what constitutes a threat, how to deal with it, and when the fight with it ends. Plural voices can be raised about these questions, which relate to Arendt’s concern about how to preserve and augment the common space of freedom. Rather than entertaining a complete separation between plurality and enmity, we can see how both features coexist and affect each other in the actual context of politics through this revisionist approach to Arendt’s thinking.

Author

• Shinkyu Lee, Oberlin College