Totalitarianism
Hannah Arendt, in her book, "Origins of Totalitarianism," attributes the formation of a mass society in Europe in the first decades of the 20th century to "grassroots eruptions" from a number of collective groups. These were the Mob, the masses, the tribes and the starving multitude - all "mobilized for action" and powerful (Arendt 1973).
The first of these groups, the Mob, Arendt perceives to have proceeded from the anti-Semitic riots that flared during the Dreyfus events in France. This Mob, according to her, was recruited from all classes of society, the "residue" or the "refuse of all classes" that accumulated from those left behind by the economic cycles of capitalism. They were displaced by the class structure and resented ordered society, and quickly mobilized for violence by instigators. Arendt distinguishes the Mob from the People in that the Mob was outside the class structure and always attuned to public-spirited action, while the People was firmly placed within the class structure. She is careful to note that the Mob was not identical with, but only a caricature of, the People.
As this first wave of collectivities, the Mob reappeared in Arendt's section on "Imperialism" as joining the gold and diamond rush in South Africa in the late 19th century along with those in the site for the same objective. Arendt refers to the Mob as the "superfluous men who established a counter-society through which men could find their way back into a human world of fellowship and purpose." Others who dug for gold and diamond included the second wave of collectivities Arendt calls the masses as workers' movements and whom she considers the authentic People, as distinguished from the faceless and displaced none-People, such as the Mob. Those who had a human "world" belonged to the People and those who did not, she classed as the non-People.
She writes that those "superfluous men" (the Mob) who joined the workers' movements became part of the People and those who did not, got incorporated into the imperialist Mob. This imperialist Mob got thrown out of the "human world of fellowship and purpose" by having no place in a structured society, by getting physically uprooted and divested of normal expectations and constraints (Arendt). Hence, they were severed from civilization and forced into a ghostlike existence where they were devoid of a sense of responsibility for their actions and decisions. From this mold evolved the tribes as the third group or strain of collectivities, as Arendt views it. These tribes developed out of the imperialist Mob that struggled against or with a native population without themselves becoming part of the People, as they were without a foundation and structure. People had a world and histories, unlike the Mob and the tribes (Arendt), examples of which were the Boers and African tribes. They did not share a tangible territory and institutions with the People but only what they had internally.
And the starving multitude Arendt writes about accounted for the rest outside these three collectivities, which were displaced, struggling, incensed and lost for identity and a place of their own. It was this condition of world-less-ness that rendered the Mob inherently susceptible to influence and mobilization by movements. A movement, according to her, was a new way of holding these fragmented individuals, without providing them a stable world or existence. A movement could hold and get them to act in concert by introducing a racist ideology that made them feel "superior" by merely offering them a "definition" of themselves. This filling-in of their vacuum could incline them to commit violent acts in defeating or displacing another group.
II. She writes that a totalitarian government or movement used "tyrannical measures of force and violence" that threatened not only the subjects but the world-at-large. It differed from a tyrannical government. In a tyrannical government, the tyrant and the people were different, opposed and mutually threatening and only to each other. In a totalitarian government, the threat was in the form of a total "de-politicization" of all phases and aspects of life, wherein the whole of society was radically atomized (Arendt)! It did not pose one side against the other, rather the people or subjects were rendered inanimate or incapable of free action - which was the simple threat to a tyrannical government - as well as the very element of free action or innate human initiative itself. It dug deeper into the source of opposition in a human being. It annihilated spontaneity in thinking, aspiring and creative undertaking (Arendt) - the very basis of what was human. The totalitarian...
The economy of the totalitarian state must be effectively directed with only so much control that the system can be directed effectively; it must obtain growth and combat economic problems to the best of its ability so as to ensure political, social and economic stability. Conversely, Arendt argues that "the totalitarian dictator regards the natural and industrial riches of each country & #8230; as a source of loot and a means
Summary of the Chapter "The Potent Wizard" from "The Origins of Totalitarianism" by Hannah Arendt This chapter revolves around Benjamin Disraeli, who is portrayed as a very ambitious politician and was characterized by luck and fortune. He did not know the feeling of déclassé, and thus, he expressed his being a Jew through every aspect possible. He rose through the political ladder in London despite his family being not born in
Holocaust Politics Totalitarianism's Controversial Notions The human social animal's capacity for collective tyranny and violence in Hannah Arendt's seminal work Since the publication of her 1951 work on The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt has received much criticism as a philosopher and an historian for her theory of the human, historical development of notions of society or what Arendt terms 'the social.' From the social organizations of the salon, which were loose and
It is necessary to control the workers and make them dependent on the government. The policy also makes it possible for the government to direct all its resources on a single project -- typically the major "goal" of a regime such as war. Complete government control on weapons, although not an exclusive characteristic of totalitarian governments precludes the chances of successful uprisings. Case Studies: Specific Examples of Totalitarian Regimes The Soviet Communist
They still feel the pangs of territorial appropriation, the constraints of being a victim of the colonial project: "You are no a de writer," the Chief responds, "you are de espider, and we shoota de espiders in Mejico" (Lowry 371). Thus, the police in the cafe are not merely symbolic of fascism - they are fascists themselves. The logic of state-based nationalism, as depicted by Lowry in this scene
German-Jews. The history of German-Jewish conflict is widely known but many might wonder why it started in the first place. Why would Germans show such extreme hatred for an ethnic group while the other did not seem to have threatened the latter? This question is certainly strange but answer is worth seeking which also helps us understand the concepts of conformity and social perception that affects global conflicts of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now