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Temptations of Tyranny
Rod Dreher’s conflicted support for President Trump illustrates a broader crisis among intellectual conservatives who fear the "soft totalitarianism" of liberal institutions yet embrace the hard authoritarianism of executive overreach. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s political thought, the essay contends that true freedom is preserved not through charismatic leaders but through the multiplication and decentralization of citizen power. Revitalizing democracy, it argues, requires stubborn, local acts of collective governance rather than the dangerous temptation to concentrate authority in a single figure.04-27-2025
Articles
What We're Reading:
Thinking
By Samantha HillLiane Carlson writes about thinking for The Revealer, and what happens when we lose faith in thinking as scholars. Echoing Hannah Arendt’s critique of academic thinking, and those who rank among the professional thinkers, Carlson emphasizes the communal nature of thinking as an activity that we engage in, while reflecting on the declining state of academia today.
08-19-2019
What We're Reading
This week, we're reading Thomas Chatterton Williams on The Great Replacement 08-17-2019
Authoritarianism Around the World
By Roger BerkowitzWith all the craziness going on here in the United States, it is sometimes hard to remember to pay attention to the world. But a number of essays this week remind us that the revolt against elite norms and elite institutions is a worldwide phenomenon. Siddhartha Deb writes about the decision of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party in India to revoke the special status of Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state in India.
08-12-2019
What We're Reading
This week, we're reading tributes to Theodor Adorno and Toni Morrison08-11-2019
Gaffes on the Campaign Trail
By Roger BerkowitzJoe Biden made news with another racial gaffe when he said “We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” John McWhorter argues that these gaffes, while problematic, are also indicative of a paradoxical tension around black achievement.
08-11-2019
Teaching Hannah Arendt Underground
By Samantha HillFor the past two days I’ve been teaching Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism for the tuition free summer school program at The University of the Underground and The Hannah Arendt Center, at The School for Poetic Computation in NYC. ..
08-04-2019
What We're Reading
This week we're reading Marilynne Robinson's essay, "Which Way to the City on a Hill?" in the The New York Review of Books.08-04-2019
Agnes Heller: 12 May, 1929 – 19 July, 2019
Roger Berkowitz writes in memoriam of the holocaust survivor and Arendt scholar.07-21-2019
A Letter from Roger Berkowitz
When you join the Hannah Arendt Center, you become part of a global community of thinkers, philosophers, and activists dedicated to understanding and loving the world as it is. Please read this special letter from our Academic Director, Roger Berkowitz to learn why your membership is so important, now more than ever.07-19-2019