Constitutions are the answer! Hannah Arendt, revolution and the Arab uprisings
Date
2019Author
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Abstract
This chapter uses Hannah Arendt’s political theory to understand the dynamics of the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The argument of the chapter is that Egypt fell victim to the problem of modern revolutions which Arendt highlighted in her book On Revolution. Rather than seeking to create greater public freedom, Arendt argues that revolutions are quickly captured by an emotive and ultimately destructive search for the ‘constituent power’ of the people. The chapter argues that Egypt’s failure to build institutions that reflected its own political, legal and cultural contexts helps explains the collapse of its revolutionary dynamic and the return to authoritarian rule.
Citation
Lang , A 2019 , Constitutions are the answer! Hannah Arendt, revolution and the Arab uprisings . in H Kei (ed.) , Arendt on Freedom, Liberation, and Revolution . Philosophers in Depth , Palgrave Macmillan , Cham , pp. 225-251 . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11695-8_9
Publication
Arendt on Freedom, Liberation, and Revolution
Type
Book item
Rights
© 2019, the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11695-8_9
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