Interpreting the work of one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, "The Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt" re-reads Arendt´s political philosophy in the light of insights into the historico-cultural background of her work. Arguing against the standard interpretation of Hannah Arendt as an anti-modernist lover of the Greek polis, Seyla Benhabib contends that Arendt´s thought emerges out of a double legacy: German Existenz philosophy, particularly the thought of Martin Heidegger, and her experiences as a German Jewess in the age of totalitarianism.This volume reconsiders Arendt´s theory of modernity, her concept of the public sphere, her distinction between the social and the political, her theory of totalitarianism, and her critique of the modern nation state, including her life-long involvement with Jewish and Israeli politics.Contents: Introduction - why Hannah Arendt?; the pariah and her shadow - Hannah Arendt´s biography of Rahel Varnhagen; Jewish politics and German "existenz philosophy" - the sources of Hannah Arendt´s thought; the destruction of the public sphere and the emergence of totalitarianism; the dialogue with Martin Heidegger -Arendt´s ontology of the human condition; the art of making and subverting distinctions - with Arendt, contra Arendt; from the problem of judgement to the public sphere - rethinking Hannah Arendt´s political theory.