Overview

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.

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9781474452182

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Reviews

Claudia Leeb's The Politics of Repressed Guilt is an important and timely book, and even a courageous one. --David W. McIvor Critical Horizons The Politics of Repressed Guilt represents an amazing achievement and fills a critical void in the existing literature. --Mary Caputi, California State University Philosophy in Review Vol. 40 no. 2 (May 2020)

Author Information

Claudia Leeb is Assistant Professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Washington State University.

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