Authority and equality in Arendt's thought

There seems to be a certain amount of confusion today when discussing political concepts and realities such as power, authority, domination and even violence. Furthermore, contemporary democratic and liberal societies are increasingly aligning themselves with an individualistic and conformist model of governance, which appears to significantly limit any form of common sense. As a specific political reality and category, authority seems, in this respect, to be fading away, giving way to a new figure. This figure combines various political concepts and realities such as authority, power, violence, force and might, often embodied by the political leader, or institutionalised within the government in power. The combination of these different concepts into a single entity renders our understanding of authority rather confused and makes its relationship with equality a source of conflict. For Hannah Arendt, the disappearance of the political category of authority is expressed through a crisis. A crisis marked by a breakdown of common sense. Drawing on Arendt's thinking, this book explores this issue of authority.

There seems to be a certain amount of confusion today when discussing political concepts and realities such as power, authority, domination and even violence. Furthermore, contemporary democratic and liberal societies are increasingly aligning themselves with an individualistic and conformist model of governance, which appears to significantly limit any form of common sense. As a specific political reality and category, authority seems, in this respect, to be fading away, giving way to a new figure. This figure combines various political concepts and realities such as authority, power, violence, force and might, often embodied by the political leader, or institutionalised within the government in power. The combination of these different concepts into a single entity renders our understanding of authority rather confused and makes its relationship with equality a source of conflict. For Hannah Arendt, the disappearance of the political category of authority is expressed through a crisis. A crisis marked by a breakdown of common sense. Drawing on Arendt's thinking, this book explores this issue of authority.