Political Consequences of Thinking

Jennifer Ring is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Women's Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, and has taught at Columbia University, Stanford University, the University of South Carolina, and the University of California at Berkeley. She is the author of Modern Political Theory and Contemporary Feminism: A Dialectical Analysis, also published by SUNY Press.

"There is now a fast-growing library of Arendt commentaries, expositions, critiques, and quarrels, but Jennifer Ring's book is something else; an engagement. She thinks along with her subject—both giving and growing in the exciting process." — Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Haverford College, author of Hannah Arendt: For the Love of the World"A hard-hitting, learned, and original analysis of a problem that has been largely neglected in Arendt scholarship. Some readers will love it and others will hate it, but it is a major contribution that no one interested in Arendt's career will be able to ignore. It provides a valuable corrective to the two dominant readings of Arendt in the literature: Arendt as existentialist/phenomenologist and Arendt as Grecophile/republican. This is a mature work by a mature scholar who has been thinking about and working with Arendt's ideas for some time." — Sandra Hinchman, St. Lawrence University, coeditor of Hannah Arendt: Critical Essays"This is a challenging, original, and engaging piece. Ring touches upon crucial themes and issues with courage and theoretical sophistication. She is fully aware of the originality and significance of her claim. Great insights are captured beautifully; memorable ideas and articulation abound in this work." — Alkis Kontos, University of Toronto

• Acknowledgments Chapter 1 IntroductionHannah Arendt, Judaism, and GenderIdentity Politics and MulticulturalismAssimilation and GenderRace and GenderThe Context of Feminist TheoryStructure and Organization of the BookChapter 2 The Politics of the Eichmann ControversyArendt and Eichmann in JerusalemThe ControversyChapter 3 Israel and the HolocaustThe Dawning of RealityThe Structure of DiscomfortAttempts at RescueIsraeli Attitudes Toward the Holocaust VictimsPostwar Negotiations with GermanyThe "Kastner Trial"The Trial of Adolf EichmannChapter 4 The New York Intellectuals and Eichmann in JerusalemThe New York Intellectuals and JudaismThe New York Intellectuals and the HolocaustPostwar Politics and the New YorkersThe New York Intellectuals and Hannah ArendtChapter 5 Race, Gender and Judaism: The Eichmann Controversy as Case StudyNazis and SexualityRacism, Sexism, and Jewish MasculinityAssimilation as Gendered: The Partisan Review Crowd RevisitedJewish WomenThe Eichmann Controversy, Gender, and JudaismChapter 6 TransitionThinking about EichmannThe Political Consequences of ThinkingArendt as Jewish GadflyChapter 7 Biblical and Rabbinic Approaches to ThinkingThinking Like a JewThe BibleTalmudMidrashThe Middle AgesMysticismJewish Historical ConsciousnessChapter 8 Greek and Hebrew: The Structure of ThinkingThe Structure of Hebrew Thought Compared to GreekRabbinic ThoughtScaffoldingChapter 9 Toward Understanding Arendt as a Jewish ThinkerA Jewish Soul in a German ScholarThe Political Trouble with Philosophy Warm-Up Exercise: An Impressionistic Reading of "Truth and Politics"Chapter 10 The Pariah and Parvenu in ThinkingSeeing and HearingClassical and Jewish OrthodoxySocrates as PariahThe Wordly Results of ThinkingChapter 11 Jewish Themes in Political Action and HistoryJudaism and the Space for Political ActionJudaism and Arendt's Concept of HistoryCommunity in Dark TimesChapter 12 ConclusionJudaismGenderAppendix Reviews of Raul Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews Notes Selected Bibliography Index