Caroline Ashcroft
Biographic Data
| ID | 6251059 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Caroline Ashcroft |
| GIVEN NAMES | Caroline |
| FAMILY NAME | Ashcroft |
| SIGNATURE | ASHCROFT C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Queen Mary University of London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6636-323X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 8 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Catastrophic Technology
In this reply to comments on Catastrophic Technology, I explore five areas of discussion: (i) the differences between the ideas of the thinkers of catastrophic technology; (ii) that this is a specifically Western narrative; (iii) the engagement between environmentalism and ideas of catastrophic technology; (iv) questions of science and expertise (and scientific agency versus technological determinism); and finally, (v) universal history and tempo…
Strange Stability
Technology, Modernity, and the Possibility of Historical Understanding
This paper traces the meaning of technology in Arendt and Foucault’s work, their historical analyses of technology, and the way that their notions of technology’s role in modernity influence their historical methods. I argue that whilst the two political thinkers approach the idea of technology from different perspectives, there is also substantial overlap in the way that they conceive of technology – often critically – as a wide-ranging set of p…
The idea of technology in cold war political thought
This paper identifies an overlapping critique of technology in the work of four influential Cold War political thinkers: Adorno, Horkheimer, Arendt and Ellul, illustrating how a widely shared critique of technology mediated much thinking about political modernity during this era. Modern technology possesses a certain dynamism, they argue, and can no longer be considered a neutral ‘tool’ but rather a process by which modern politics is being conti…
From the German Revolution to the New Left
This article argues that the German Revolution of 1918–19 was a formative event in the politicization of Hannah Arendt and Herbert Marcuse, significantly influencing their understanding of revolutionary action and their reflections on the 1960s New Left movement. The German Revolution draws these often polarized thinkers closer together as both characterize the unfulfilled political possibility of the revolution in substantially similar ways. In …
From resistance to revolution
Arendt’s work on civil disobedience sets out an optimistic portrayal of the possibilities of such forms of action in re-energising the spirit of American politics in the late twentieth century. Civil disobedience should not simply be tolerated, she argued, but incorporated into the legal structure of the American political system. Her work is usually seen to promote an idea of civil disobedience that is thus bound to existing constitutional princ…
The polis and the res publica
The influence of the ancient Greek world on Hannah Arendt’s thought is well documented, yet her interest in the politics of the Roman Republic is often considered less central to her work. This paper explores Arendt’s analysis of both these political worlds, with a particular emphasis on what this comparison can tells us about her understanding of the role of violence in politics. Arendt has generally been understood to structurally exclude viole…
Jewishness and the Problem of Nationalism
Hannah Arendt's early writings, focused on Jewish politics in the 1930s and 1940s, are in many ways her most directly political work. Yet certain problematic concepts in these texts, notably the idea of the “Jewish nation,” have led many to disregard it. A shift in the themes of Arendt's work following the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951 has resulted in further divisions being drawn between the pre- and post- Origins work. T…
Jewishness and the Problem of Nationalism
Hannah Arendt's early writings, focused on Jewish politics in the 1930s and 1940s, are in many ways her most directly political work. Yet certain problematic concepts in these texts, notably the idea of the “Jewish nation,” have led many to disregard it. A shift in the themes of Arendt's work following the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951 has resulted in further divisions being drawn between the pre- and post- Origins work. T…
From resistance to revolution
Arendt’s work on civil disobedience sets out an optimistic portrayal of the possibilities of such forms of action in re-energising the spirit of American politics in the late twentieth century. Civil disobedience should not simply be tolerated, she argued, but incorporated into the legal structure of the American political system. Her work is usually seen to promote an idea of civil disobedience that is thus bound to existing constitutional princ…
The polis and the res publica
The influence of the ancient Greek world on Hannah Arendt’s thought is well documented, yet her interest in the politics of the Roman Republic is often considered less central to her work. This paper explores Arendt’s analysis of both these political worlds, with a particular emphasis on what this comparison can tells us about her understanding of the role of violence in politics. Arendt has generally been understood to structurally exclude viole…
Jewishness and the Problem of Nationalism
Hannah Arendt's early writings, focused on Jewish politics in the 1930s and 1940s, are in many ways her most directly political work. Yet certain problematic concepts in these texts, notably the idea of the “Jewish nation,” have led many to disregard it. A shift in the themes of Arendt's work following the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951 has resulted in further divisions being drawn between the pre- and post- Origins work. T…
From resistance to revolution
Arendt’s work on civil disobedience sets out an optimistic portrayal of the possibilities of such forms of action in re-energising the spirit of American politics in the late twentieth century. Civil disobedience should not simply be tolerated, she argued, but incorporated into the legal structure of the American political system. Her work is usually seen to promote an idea of civil disobedience that is thus bound to existing constitutional princ…
The polis and the res publica
The influence of the ancient Greek world on Hannah Arendt’s thought is well documented, yet her interest in the politics of the Roman Republic is often considered less central to her work. This paper explores Arendt’s analysis of both these political worlds, with a particular emphasis on what this comparison can tells us about her understanding of the role of violence in politics. Arendt has generally been understood to structurally exclude viole…
From the German Revolution to the New Left
This article argues that the German Revolution of 1918–19 was a formative event in the politicization of Hannah Arendt and Herbert Marcuse, significantly influencing their understanding of revolutionary action and their reflections on the 1960s New Left movement. The German Revolution draws these often polarized thinkers closer together as both characterize the unfulfilled political possibility of the revolution in substantially similar ways. In …
The idea of technology in cold war political thought
This paper identifies an overlapping critique of technology in the work of four influential Cold War political thinkers: Adorno, Horkheimer, Arendt and Ellul, illustrating how a widely shared critique of technology mediated much thinking about political modernity during this era. Modern technology possesses a certain dynamism, they argue, and can no longer be considered a neutral ‘tool’ but rather a process by which modern politics is being conti…
Technology, Modernity, and the Possibility of Historical Understanding
This paper traces the meaning of technology in Arendt and Foucault’s work, their historical analyses of technology, and the way that their notions of technology’s role in modernity influence their historical methods. I argue that whilst the two political thinkers approach the idea of technology from different perspectives, there is also substantial overlap in the way that they conceive of technology – often critically – as a wide-ranging set of p…
Catastrophic Technology
In this reply to comments on Catastrophic Technology, I explore five areas of discussion: (i) the differences between the ideas of the thinkers of catastrophic technology; (ii) that this is a specifically Western narrative; (iii) the engagement between environmentalism and ideas of catastrophic technology; (iv) questions of science and expertise (and scientific agency versus technological determinism); and finally, (v) universal history and tempo…
Strange Stability
Sociology (6 works) · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Law (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Ancient history (2 works) · Critical Theory and Philosophy (2 works)