The relationship between revolution and state: Hannah Arendt's critique of the current model

Abstract

In this text, we intend to develop the elements that make up the criticism that Hannah Arendt presents at the end of the interview granted to the German writer Adelbert Reif in the summer of 1970 to the concept of state and modern government, and that are not developed by Arendt at that moment. To this end, we will initially expose Arendt's criticism of the emptying of public space and the attempt to reduce political participation to the electoral process. To counteract these problems inherent to the modern concept of state and government, Hannah Arendt mentions, even slightly, the possibility of a council-state. However, in this text Arendt does not explore these concepts and experiences, but only relates them to the need for transformation of the modern concept of state and government, i.e., it allows the perception of the actuality of her previous reflection. In view of this, the hypothesis explored in this text is that this 1970 interview serves as a reading key to understand the relevance and actuality of the parallel between parties x council developed by the author in On Revolution in 1963 and adds a new element, namely, the theme of the need to institutionalize a forgotten experience: the councils.