The Russian Sociological Review, an international peer-reviewed academic journal published by the National Research University — Higher School of Economics, invites contributions from philosophy, social sciences and cognate fields for the special issue entitled Hannah Arendt and the Boundaries of the Public Sphere.

Hannah Arendt and the Boundaries of the Public Sphere

Hannah Arendt is one of the most vigorous advocates of public politics and agonistic debate among contemporary political philosophers. Because of our essential plurality, humans can access and preserve their common world “only to the extent that many people can talk about it and exchange their opinions and perspectives with one another, over against one another”.

However, Arendt’s position is challenged by the recent transformations of democracy which are making us reconsider the limits of political discussion. With both traditional and new media undergoing a radical transformation, it is becoming increasingly common to deny political opponents the moral right to justify their position in public debate. This pattern can be observed across the political spectrum and also across borders: in some places in the world many refuse to debate with the rising extreme right, while in other places it is the liberals who are considered traitors and therefore excluded from public discussion. The outcome is a remarkable fragmentation of the public sphere and the coexistence of communities holding incompatible views of reality.

The Russian Sociological Review invites submissions focusing on how Arendt’s political concepts can be used to establish justified limits for public discussion and promoting public politics today. How can politics benefit from conflict and control it? Are there any positions and ideologies to be disqualified from public debate? In what ways are individuals responsible for upholding pluralism? How should the public sphere accommodate new types of political lies? How can Arendt’s vision of the political be mobilized to answer the political challenges of the present day?

The deadline for abstract submission is July, 1 2018.

Call for papers