The Arendt on Earth Project

The “Arendt on Earth” project was a workshop series held from 2019 – 2022 at Northwestern University in Chicago (and virtually). The project took the elusive concept of “earth” in the thought of Hannah Arendt as a frame, impetus and provocation to “think what we are doing” in the face of multiple, interconnected crises: rapid, unpredictable climate change; the boundlessness of modern production and consumption; the rule of instrumentality over science; fears of technology out of control; the “defactualization” of the world and the corruption of truth in politics; global catastrophes of poverty, displacement, statelessness and rightlessness; and the crises of legitimacy, power, and freedom that face democratic peoples and polities today. The purpose of the project was not only to foster scholarly engagement with Arendt’s writing, but to envision how the humanities can promote public comprehension of the burdens of our time. (From the Arendt on Earth Home page).

The Society for Women of Ideas will host a panel discussion with the Director of the Arendt on Earth project, Lexi Neame, and three of the workshop participants: Peg Birmingham, Benjamin Lazier, and Linda Zerilli.