One of the great political philosophers of the past century, Arendt's thought has served as inspiration as well as illumination, and continues to do so as we face the unprecedented political and human challenges of the twenty-first century. With the rise of a new form of political terrorism throughout the world and the emergence of religious fundamentalisms, Islamist and others, Arendt's analyses of totalitarian movements have been recalled by many. This conference commemorates the centenary of Hannah Arendt's birth and celebrates her work.

The phrase "the banality of evil," after falling into disrepute for decades, is used with reference to our times.It is not only the continuing political relevance of Arendt's thought that motivates the enduring appeal of her philosophy. As new developments in science and technology transform the conditions of life on earth, Arendt's categories of natality, plurality, and activity both remind us of the "human condition" and make us aware how problematic this may become in the future.

Likewise, as the new global economy and the revolution in means of communication through the rise of electronic media transform the space of the political, questions concerning the boundaries of the demos and the restructuring of the public sphere are placed on our agenda anew. In addition to these major concerns, this conference will address recent Arendt scholarship emerging out of the continuing editing and publication of the Hannah Arendt archives.

The conference program consists of sessions on "Political Violence and Terror: The Changing Face of the Political," "Institutions, Constitutions, and Civil Society," "Reflections on 'The Human Condition,'" "Judgment and Evil," "Modernity, Totalitarianism, and Jurisdictional Legacies," and "'Provincializing Europe': Hannah Arendt on Anti-Semitism and Imperialism" and concludes with a roundtable discussion.

The conference organizers are Seyla Benhabib, Director, and Roy Tsao, Lecturer, both of the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University.

Participants include Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research; Samantha Power, Harvard University; Dick Howard, SUNY at Stony Brook; Andrew Arato, Richard Bernstein, and Jerome Kohn, New School for Social Research; Jeremy Waldron, New York University; Jeff Isaac, Indiana University; Maurizio Passerin d'Entreves, University of Cape Town; George Kateb, Susan Neiman, and Sankar Muthu, Princeton University; Patchen Markell, University of Chicago; Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto; Benjamin Barber, University of Maryland; Dana Villa, University of Notre Dame; Leora Bilsky, Tel-Aviv University; Paolo Flores d'Arcais, University of Rome; Richard King, University of Nottingham; Stathis Kalyvas, Jonathan Schell, Boris Kapustin, Roy Tsao, Tony Kronman, Steven Smith, Bryan Garsten, Norma Thompson, Judith Resnik, Ute Frevert, and Karuna Mantena, Yale University; and Ursula Ludz, Munich, Editor of Arendt's works in German.

The conference is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the generous support of the John K. Castle Fund and co-organized by the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and the Whitney Humanities Center.

For more information, call Manana Sikic at 203 432-0673 or e-mail manana.sikic@yale.edu.