The Attack of the Blob - (Hannah Arendt's Concept of the Social) 2nd Edition by Hanna Fenichel Pitkin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"The European intellectual Hannah Arendt worried about the tendency of social structures to take on a life of their own and paralyze individual action. Pitkin . . . is determined to trace our problems to the actions of individuals. This book is thus a battle of wits. . . . [A] vivid sketch of the conflict between two basic outlooks."-Library Journal

"[O]ne leaves this book feeling enriched and challenged. Pitkin prompts us to rethink our understanding of Arendt and to demythologize the pervasive sense of political helplessness Arendt herself sought so hard to articulate. . . . [A] cause for celebration."-Peter Baehr, Times Literary Supplement

"[Arendt] is certainly among the most original and outstanding political theorists of the twentieth century. . . . It is difficult to imagine a hostile critic examining more effectively than Pitkin . . . Arendt's concept of the social, for hostility would inhibit the acquisition of the mastery of Arendt's texts that Pitkin displays at every turn."-Peter Berkowitz, New Republic

From the Back Cover

One of the most brilliant political theorists of our time, Hannah Ardent intended her work to liberate, to convince us that the power to improve our flawed arrangements is in our hands. At the same time, Ardent developed a metaphor of "the social" as an alien, appearing as if from outer space to gobble up human freedom; she blamed it--not us--for our public paralysis. In The Attack of the Blob, Hanna Pitkin seeks to resolve this seeming paradox by tracing Ardent's notion of "the social" throughout her writings. Doing this, Pitkin developes a resolution that considers everything from language to the nature of political theory itself.

About the Author

Hanna Fenichel Pitkin is a professor emerita of political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of The Concept of Representation, Fortune is a Woman, and Wittgenstein and Justice. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.