Statelessness. On Hannah Arendt and Michael Walzer's political thoughts (PDF)

Essay aus dem Jahr 2015 im Fachbereich Philosophie - Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts, Note: 1,7, Universität Paderborn (Philosophie), Veranstaltung: Political Philosophy, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: We are in an age of global migration streams and world-wide job seekers. The acquisition of citizenship can neither be grounded on territorial reasons, nor on principles of descent, but only on the participation in a political community and the everyday life of civil society. Political philosopher Hannah Arendt recognized this already many years ago.

In several of her texts, Arendt offers the problematic nature of human rights. In "The Origins of Totalitarianism" she declares the impotence of human rights protection in the mass phenomenon of statelessness after World War I.

In the following essay I am going to examine important aspects about statelessness in connection to human rights. In a first step I am going to find an access to the term of statelessness itself, especially how Hannah Arendt presents it in some of her written philosophical thoughts. Further going I will put a spot on whether the after French Revolution adopted human rights failed, in cause of the phenomenon of statelessness after the First World War.

As the situation, faced by persons who are stateless, is one of complete vulnerability, I am going to examine Hannah Arendt's claim to the right to have rights, whether it's an adequate solution for the protection of stateless persons. In addition I am going to put a spot on the principle of help and assistance, a position of moral obligatory, which is presented by the American sociologist Michael Walzer.