The Slow Boring of Hard Boards: Weil, Arendt and the Work of Politics
Publication Type |
Book Chapter |
Year of Publication |
2002 |
Author |
|
Book |
Turning Operations: Feminism, Arendt, and Politics |
Pages |
161-181 |
Publisher |
Routledge |
Place Published |
New York |
Language |
English |
Chapter |
8 |
Keywords |
|
Annotation |
Dietz combines Simone Weil’s concept of work as ‘methodological thinking’ with Hannah Arendt’s notion of interaction and politics as ‘theatrical performance’ to develop the idea of a methodical politics. She begins by looking at the idea of automatism (or automation) in Weil’s and Arendt’s work, arguing they saw the same three problems in relation to it. She then goes on to compare what these two authors see as necessary to restore human freedom and repair human’s relationship to the world. She first looks at Weil’s theory of action, a theory which ultimately, Dietz claims, focuses on the need for the ‘capacity for methodical thought’ to escape the dangers of automatism. She moves on to a discussion of Hannah Arendt’s concept of work, identifying a number of problems with it in relations to Weil’s ideas. She then turns to Weil’s and Arendt’s theories of action, arguing that Arendt’s theory emerges superior, although not without some serious problems, which she goes on to elucidate. Drawing on Weil’s account of methodical thinking and to a lesser degree, Arendt’s idea of politics as theatrical performance, Dietz presents her own theory of methodical politics. The article ends with an acknowledgement of the some of the still to be resolved problems in her work. |