Hannah Arendt Prize Explained
The Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought (German: Hannah-Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken|links=no) is a prize awarded to individuals representing the tradition of political theorist Hannah Arendt, especially in regard to totalitarianism.[1] It was instituted by the German Heinrich Böll Foundation (affiliated with the Alliance 90/The Greens) and the government of Bremen in 1994,[2] and is awarded by an international jury.[3] The prize money is €10,000.[4] [5]
Laureates
Controversy
In 2023, the German-Israeli Society Bremen chapter chair Hermann Kuhn wrote an open letter calling for a suspension of Masha Gessen's prize out of objection to their essay "In the Shadow of the Holocaust" in The New Yorker. Gessen compared the Blockade of the Gaza Strip to Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany, stating “the ghetto is being liquidated” in the context of the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Heinrich Böll Foundation initially announced it would not sponsor the award, then later announced that the award would be presented in a smaller ceremony.[13] [14]
In response to criticisms, Gessen said "Hannah Arendt wouldn’t have gotten the Hannah Arendt prize if you applied those kinds of criteria to it," and referenced Arendt's frequent comparisons of Israeli policies and ideologies to Nazi Germany. In The New Yorker essay they quoted Arendt's 1948 letter that compared Menachem Begin's Herut party to the Nazis.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: 11 December 2017 . Hannah Arendt . dw.de . Deutsche Welle . 22 April 2020 . 8 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210708172554/https://www.dw.com/en/hannah-arendt/t-37447725 . live .
- Web site: 2018 . Hannah Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken . kulturpreise.de . 22 April 2020.
- Web site: Hannah Arendt Award For Political Thought. Heinrich Boell Stiftung The Green Political Foundation. Heinrich Boell Foundation. 10 November 2016. 18 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210518104705/https://www.boell.de/en/hannah-arendt-award. live.
- News: Henkenberens . Carolin . 6 December 2019 . Arendt-Preis verliehen . de . Weser Kurier . Bremen . 22 April 2020 . 27 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210227165223/https://www.weser-kurier.de/bremen/bremen-stadt_artikel,-arendtpreis-verliehen-_arid,1881095.html . live .
- News: 1 December 2017 . Hannah-Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken . de . Die Tagespost . dpa . Würzburg . 19 April 2020.
- Web site: 27 August 2013 . Timothy Snyder has been awarded the 2013 Hannah Arendt Prize . 19 August 2021 . history.yale.edu . 15 May 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210515110107/https://history.yale.edu/news/timothy-snyder-has-been-awarded-2013-hannah-arendt-prize-political-thought . live .
- News: 24 July 2014 . Pussy Riot für politische Aktionen ausgezeichnet . de . . dpa . Stuttgart . 22 April 2020 . 29 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190129104341/https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.hannah-arendt-preis-pussy-riot-fuer-politische-aktionen-ausgezeichnet.2d61c0c6-e5a5-4f75-8c60-b5cf6605c9e8.html . live .
- News: 19 July 2018 . Ökonomin Ann Pettifor erhält Hannah-Arendt-Preis 2018 . de . . dpa . Munich . 22 April 2020.
- Web site: Hannah Arendt Award for Political Thought . 2023-12-20 . . en . 12 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231212184446/https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/hannah-arendt-award-for-political-thought-2019-07-13 . live .
- Web site: 2022-07-14 . Serhiy Zhadan receives Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought 2022 . 2023-12-20 . Suhrkamp . 18 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220718210030/https://www.suhrkamp.de/rights/nachricht/serhiy-zhadan-receives-hannah-arendt-prize-for-political-thought-2022-b-3707 . live .
- Web site: 16 June 2021 . Masha Gessen erhält den Hannah-Arendt-Preis für politisches Denken 2023 . 3 August 2023 . Suhrkamp Verlag . de.
- Web site: Schaub . Michael . 2023-12-18 . Masha Gessen Receives Prize Despite Controversy . 2023-12-20 . . en . 19 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231219075552/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/masha-gessen-receives-prize-despite-controversy/ . live .
- Web site: Lapin . Andrew . 2023-12-15 . Masha Gessen will receive Hannah Arendt Prize after all, following controversy over Gaza essay . 2023-12-18 . Jewish Telegraphic Agency . en-US . 17 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231217125250/https://www.jta.org/2023/12/15/culture/masha-gessen-will-receive-hannah-arendt-prize-after-all-following-controversy-over-gaza-essay . live .
- Web site: 2023-12-16 . Author receives German prize in scaled-down format after comparing Gaza to Nazi-era ghettos . 2023-12-18 . AP News . en . 18 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231218164437/https://apnews.com/article/germany-hannah-arendt-prize-masha-gessen-1923648579baea413c8b35cc436375fe . live .