Physical proximity is the indispensable factor in generating political power

Evidence

Recall that the activists interviewed by Barassi complained that social media did not allow them the space to elaborate their ideas or have real discussions. I think that what social media was lacking for them, and what they eventually found in physical meetings and slower media like magazines, was what Hannah Arendt called “the space of appearance.” For Arendt, the space of appearance was the seed of democracy, and it was defined by any collection of people who speak and act meaningfully together. Although it is fragile, the space of appearance can arise anytime these conditions are met, and they have to do with proximity and scale. “The only indispensable factor in the generation of power is the living together of people,” Arendt writes. “Only where men live so close together that the potentialities for action are always present can power remain with them.” — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 597

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Arendt’s ‘space of appearance’ as the seed of democracy and states its dependence on proximity and scale.
• XREF: Directly links activists’ real-world communication problem to Arendt’s political theory, contrasting with social media critique.