Open AccessMethodological Shortcomings in Hannah Arendt’s Conceptualization of Totalitarianism
Author(s) -
Antony Kalashnikov
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the agora
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1927-4793
DOI - 10.29173/agora17244
Subject(s) - conceptualization , epistemology , imperfect , ideology , philosophy , argument (complex analysis) , politics , sociology , nazism , nazi germany , psychoanalysis , law , psychology , political science , medicine , linguistics
The political philosopher Hannah Arendt was partly responsible for popularizing the term 'totalitarianism'. In doing so, Arendt followed a historically-grounded, analytical approach, methodically deriving the concept from the cases of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. This essay will argue that Arendt’s conceptualization of totalitarianism is imperfect, because of some crucial methodological shortcomings in her analysis. In demonstrating this, I will briefly explicate Arendt's methodology and argument, and critique her concept in so far as it is: grounded in too few cases, the cases are dubiously linked, and the analysis is heedless of a functionalist understanding of ideology.