Totalitarianism between the ideology of the movement and the physics of power: Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault

Sa？etak The paper compares the understanding of totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault. First, a critical reading of Arendt depicts her understanding of the characteristics of totalitarianism. Ideology is ultimately shown to be crucial for Arendt. Then Foucault’s critique of the concept of ideology is provided together with his understanding of the functioning of power. Special attention is given to Foucault’s understanding of biopower and his theorizing about Nazism, racism, and Stalinism. In the last part of the paper similarities and differences between Foucault and Arendt in the understanding of totalitarianism are drawn, and a synthetic definition of totalitarianism is offered, which can be helpful in evaluating the historical and modern political orders as totalitarian