Statelessness and the perishing of glory

a reflection in the light of the thought of Hannah Arendt

Abstract

The article analyzes the situation of stateless persons and the consequent perishing of their glory when violations of their human rights occur in the light of Hannah Arendt thinking. It notes that as in Arendt1s time, where the stateless person arises because of the Wars that marked the 20th century, nowadays it arises due to forced migration and shows that the problem of not having the right to have rights persists without solution. It links Arendt’s sense of glory to what is done in the public sphere, that is, when individuals become protagonists on the public stage, acting to improve or advance the whole of society. Thus, it verifies how the absence of citizenship affects the national identity of such individuals and prevents them from doing something new and thus deciding their common destiny. It demonstrate Arendt’s thinking about the insufficient foundation of the classical conception of human rights with regard to stateless persons, as well as the difficulty of human beings in living with the different and becoming empathic. It highlights Hannah Arendt’s proposal for the realization of human rights today and for citizenship, because without it there is no effectiveness of any right and the risk of total exclusion and denial of humanity of stateless persons.