Re-reading worldliness: Hannah Arendt and the question of matter

Last, A. (2017) Re-reading worldliness: Hannah Arendt and the question of matter. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 35(1), pp. 72-87. (doi: 10.1177/0263775816662471)

Abstract

Both new and historical materialisms have attracted a reputation for leading to ‘bad politics’. Historical materialisms have been accused of reducing too much to material relations and their production, whereas new materialisms have been accused of avoiding politics completely. This article reads the critique directed at materialisms against Hannah Arendt’s exceptional distrust of matter. Focusing on her concept of ‘worldliness’, it grapples with the question ‘why do we need an attention to matter in the first place?’ The attempted re-reading takes place through a feminist and postcolonial lens that draws out the contributions and failures of Arendt’s (anti)materialist framework in its banishing of matter from politics. Arendt’s focus on the prevention of dehumanisation further serves as a means to discuss materialism’s risk in negotiating the tension between deindividuation and dehumanisation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Feminism, new materialism, historical materialism, postcolonialism, dehumanisation, agency.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Last, Dr Angela
• Authors: Last, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0263-7758
• ISSN (Online): 1472-3433
• Published Online: 05 August 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Author
• First Published: First published in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 35(1): 72-87
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy