The radical uncertainty that refugees face because of war, flight and exile often dramatically shapes their participation in society. Violent conflict and human rights abuses are not just disproportionately experienced by, but can also create, political subjects. Such life events can transform the motivations, sense of responsibility and political actions of individuals with refugee backgrounds. In this article, we explore the links between civil–political engagement and the life stories of such individuals, analysing our empirical data through themes in the work of Hannah Arendt. We make three central points. First, we highlight the possibility of refugees as ‘vanguard’, playing a leading role in the struggle against dark times. Second, we illustrate the importance of expanding the idea of ‘the political’ through Arendt’s understanding of political action as narrative. And, third, we explore the political freedom and hope that stem from the possibility of ‘new beginnings’.

What is "critical" about critical theory? I claim that, to be "critical enough", critical theory's future depends on being able to handle today's planetary climate crisis, which presupposes a philosophy of nature. Here, I argue that Axel Honneth's vision of critical theory represents a nature denial and is thus unable to criticize humans' instrumentalization as well as capitalism's exploitation of nature. However, I recover what I take to be a missed opportunity of what I term as the early Honneth's original ecological insight, which I reconstruct precisely as a philosophy of nature. Consequently, I identify what I describe as an ecological sensibility in Honneth. This refers to a bodily capability through which humans sensuously can resonate, communicate, and interactand through that morally engagewith nature in its entire complexity. Furthermore, by virtue of this ecological sensibility, humans can recognize nature's inherent moral value as a sensuously affected party. Then, the early Honneth's original insight is recovered as a critical political ecology, which is needed facing today's climate crisis.

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Nylig igangsatte FN Post-2015, sin

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