Arendt Between Past And Future

Ironically for a thinker who has been accused—with some justification—of Eurocentrism, the issues Hannah Arendt addressed in The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) and her work up to the early 1960s are as relevant to the "globalized" world of today as they were to the events of her own time. Already during World War II, Arendt had realized that the West was entering an era that demanded a fundamental rethinking of its basic concepts and traditions. In particular, she contended that "the idea of humanity" entailed the moral necessity of assuming "the obligation of global responsibility . . . for all crimes committed by men."2 One of the most important implications of this vast expansion of global awareness was the realization that she must look outside of Europe for one of the essential elements—the experience of imperialism—that helped create totalitarianism in Europe.