Good and Dignified Life

Joke J. Hermsen (b. 1961) is a Dutch writer and philosopher, who studied in Paris and Amsterdam. Brendan Monaghan (b. 1979) grew up in Botswana. After a spell at Amnesty International, he became a translator.

“An intimate and timely meditation on dark times, Hermsen’s illuminating essay offers readers a way to think with Hannah Arendt and Rosa Luxemburg about how to build a more humane world in common.”—Samantha Rose Hill, author of Hannah Arendt“In this profoundly beautiful book, Joke J. Hermsen offers a poignant analysis of Hannah Arendt and Rosa Luxemburg as they model thinking undeterred by fear. Advocating for love and collective responsibility for the world as a shared object of attention, Hermsen illuminates the ways that these two Jewish women geniuses enacted freedom in the only way we can—with others.”—Jane Anna Gordon, coeditor (with Drucilla Cornell) of Creolizing Rosa Luxemburg“In A Good and Dignified Life, the noted Dutch writer Joke J. Hermsen provides us with a tour d’horizon of our current social and political ills through the lens of two clear-eyed partisans of hope: Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt. Focusing on public freedom, the self-organization of ordinary citizens, and the need to combat the ever-increasing hegemony of the economic over the political sphere of life, this unique work surveys the current scene—and the seemingly dim future prospects that confront us—with a renewed appreciation of the promise of politics and of ‘acting together, acting in concert.’”—Dana Villa, University of Notre DamePraise for Joke J. Hermsen:  “Despite the weight of the subject, Joke Hermsen succeeds in continuing to captivate her readers.”—Yves Joris, Tzum  “Hermsen writes in long, full sentences, which are pregnant with meaning and at the same time remain flexible. You glide through the language, you sink into it wonderfully.”—Fleur Speet, De Morgen  “Engagingly and with great vitality, Hermsen charts the richness of our inner lives.”—NRC Handelsblad