Memories of exclusion

Abstract

This article examines Hannah Arendt’s concern for remembrance in political life in light of contemporary discourses regarding the memory of slavery and colonization in the African diaspora. Arendt’s blindness to questions of exclusion within this context has given way to a set of critical debates in Arendt studies concerning the viability of her political project. In this paper, I give further contour to these debates by considering Arendt’s discourse on revolution in light of an analysis of the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804). In so doing, my aim is to deepen and challenge Arendt’s understanding of the revolutionary tradition that she believes we are responsible for remembering and appropriating anew in political life today.

The Political Value of Disappointment among Ex-resistance Fighters: Confronting the Grey Zone of Founding

“…It is to draw on an Arendt-inspired account of beginning anew as attunement so as to direct attention to how we can enhance our ability to bring to light and face up to the haunting histories of violence as "part of the world we have inherited." 9 Third, my argument about the political value of ex-resisters' disappointment is inspired by Arendt's grasp of the political relevance of stories: their ability to reconcile us to the ambiguous character of political affairs and kindle our capacity to respond to the intricacies of the present. 10 For Arendt, stories are particularly important in times of crisis-such as those engendered by profound disappointment-when our established ways of relating to the world are put into question and when viable courses of action need to be imagined anew.…”