Author(s): Hannah Arendt

Philosophy

A collection of studies in which Arendt, from the standpoint of a political philosopher, views the crises of the 1960s and early 1970s as challenges to the American form of government.

Through the connected essays, Dr. Arendt examines, defines, and clarifies concerns of the American citizen. A sampler of her thoughts: the oppressed do not lead revolutions an dthe revolutionaries do not 'make' them; rather, they pick up power that is left 'lying in the street': capitalism and communism are systems that are both based on expropriation, and neither is the remedy for the other; American student radicalism has been of worldwide importance primarily because it has been morally motivated, but if students destroy the universities by politising them, they destroy the base of their rebellion.