Here and Elsewhere: Phenomenological Reflections on the Time and Space of Mass Street Protests

Abstract: This paper pursues a phenomenological clarification of the spatial and temporal constitution of the mass protest experience. I argue that important features of its unique structure can guide an exploration of its significance and potential. I begin by bringing some of these into relief by considering how a mass street protest is unlike other forms of resistant collective action that take place in public spaces: in particular, scenes of violent revolt (I draw on Sartre’s analysis of the storming of the Bastille in The Critique of Dialectical Reason) and Arendtian “spaces of appearance” that emerge in the context of revolutionary activity. I then argue that a crucial feature of the mass protest is that it always also takes place elsewhere. This can be understood both spatially (it happens in other neighborhoods, in other cities, perhaps in other countries; it may be broadcasted to spectators all over) and temporally (mass protests inevitably recall and seem to participate in past pro.... https://www.hannaharendt.net/index.php/han/article/view/531

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Here and Elsewhere: Phenomenological Reflections on the Time and Space of Mass Street Protests ; volume:13 ; number:1 ; year:2023 ; HannahArendt.net ; 13, Heft 1 (2023)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Rhoad, Ian

Further information

• DOI: 10.57773/hanet.v13i1.531
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024020211073951108690
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:21 AM CEST