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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to consider the ways in which Arendt's writings on totalitarianism act as a warning sign for political and miseducational circumstances in the USA. Because the term totalitarianism has been used imprudently (largely in the mass media) to express repressive conditions in so-called models of democracy, this paper seeks to both clarify and raise questions concerning its meaning as a form of nation-state-sanctioned power and/or economic-technological force. This analysis draws largely from Arendt's definition of totalitarianism expressed as an antipolitical phenomenon characterized by terror-ruled ideological indoctrination which destroys both the public realm and the private identities. I contend that analyses of twentieth-century totalitarianism are significant to today's unprecedented questions and circumstances germinating in and having significance beyond the USA. I also describe the difficulty of action under extreme conditions. In the last analysis, I deliberate on the site of education as a totalitarian coercion.
Acknowledgements
An earlier version of this paper was presented at William Pinar, William Doll, and Donna Trueit's 2013–2014 lecture series Ethical Engagement with Alterity at the University of British Columbia, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy. Much gratitude goes to them for inviting me to participate in their series. I would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers and Mary Napoli for their helpful suggestions in refining this article.