Life, Natality and Freedom in Hannah Arendt: Objections to some biopolitical interpretations of Arendt’s thought

Abstract

This paper analyzes certain controversies that biopolitical interpretations of Hannah Arendt’s thought may arise. Recently, several scholars have emphasized that new theoretical clues are made possible through a link between some Arendtian key-concepts («Natality», «Freedom», «Power», «Life») and the biopolitical paradigm. Nevertheless, their studies do not consider enough the original Arendtian background: Phenomenology. Then, it could cause her thought can be misleading. The following steps are required to prove this point: a) to evaluate the viability of the biopolitical interpretations of Arendt’s thought; b) to determine their scope; c) to show their risk of producing a misrepresentation of her thought. If this risk can be shown, then the explanating power of the biopolitical paradigm could be considerably relativized.