The Politics of Hospitality and the Politics of Memory

Kant's peace project has gained importance with the development of the UN and the renewed interest in cosmopolitanism. In her new article, “Kant and Arendt on Hospitality” Schott returns to Kant's notion of hospitality developed in his essay on peace, which addresses the relation between the rights and duties of citizens and their nation-state and the rights of foreigners. Through the work of Hannah Arendt, she shows the centrality of political hospitality for addressing the issue of statelessness, and argues for its importance both in securing rights for refugees and in defending rights of citizens.

Robin May Schott, “Kant and Arendt on Hospitality” in Jarhbuch für Recht und Ethik / Annual Review of Law and Ethics, Volume 17, edited by B. Sharon Byrd, Joachim Hruschka, Jan C. Joerden, Duncker and Humblot, 2009.

Although Simone de Beauvoir is a groundbreaking figure for contemporary feminism, her importance for political thought is often overlooked. In her article, “At huske Beauvoir - Det politiske og erindringens politik” Schott focuses on Beauvoir's writings on the military's torture of prisoners in Algeria in 1960 in order to show how the memory of wrong-doing is central for developing political solidarity and collective responsibility.

Robin May Schott, “At huske Beauvoir - Det politiske og erindringens politik” in At Tænke Eksistensen; Studier i eksistenstænkningens historie og betydning, edited by Paw Hedegaard Amdisen, Jonas Holst, Jens Viggo Nielsen, Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 2009.