The Politics of Repressed Guilt

A philosophical investigation of dealing with guilt and its impact on democracy Drawing on the work of Hannah Arendt and Theodor W. Adorno, this book illustrates the relevance and applicability of a political discussion of guilt and democracy. It appropriates psychoanalytic theory to analyse court documents of Austrian Nazi perpetrators as well as recent public controversies surrounding Austria's involvement in the Nazi atrocities and ponders how the former agents of Hitlerite crimes and contemporary Austrians have dealt with their guilt. Exposing the defensive mechanisms that have been used to evade facing involvement in Nazi atrocities, Leeb considers the possibilities of breaking the cycle of negative consequences that result from the inability to deal with guilt. Leeb shows us that only by guilt can individuals and nations take responsibility for their past crimes, show solidarity with the victims of crimes, and prevent the emergence of new crimes. Claudia Leeb is Assistant Professor in political theory at Washington State University. She is the author of Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism (2017), Working-Class Women in Elite Academia (2004), and Die Zerstörung des Mythos von der Friedfertigen Frau (1998). Cover image: Von der Liste Gestrichen, 1933, Paul Klee © akg-images Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-1324-4 Barcode