Hanna Fenichel Pitkin

Pitkin was born on July 17, 1931 to Otto Fenichel, and Clare (née Nathansohn). In 1940, Otto Fenichel married Hanna Fenichel, a psychoanalyst, who became Pitkin's stepmother. Born in Berlin, Pitkin and her parents fled Nazi Germany in 1933 to Oslo, later moving to Prague in 1935. At nearly seven years old, Pitkin's family emigrated to Los Angeles with other German-Jewish refugees. In 1982, Pitkin received UC Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award. Pitkin retired as a professor in 1997 while remaining a mentor for graduate students. Pitkin died on May 6, 2023, at the age of 91. == Books ==

Pitkin's books were The Concept of Representation (1967), Wittgenstein and Justice (1972, 1984, 1992), and Fortune Is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccolò Machiavelli (1984, 1999), in addition to numerous articles and edited volumes. In 1998 she published ''The Attack of the Blob: Hannah Arendt's Concept of "the Social". A wide selection of her writings is collected and thematized in Hanna Fenichel Pitkin: Politics, Justice, Action'' (2016). The Concept of Representation The Concept of Representation (1967), Pitkin's first book and most notable publication, is derived from her dissertation. Although modern "representation" is associated with democracy, Pitkin believes its historical, political, linguistic, and philosophical contexts must be studied to understand how the concept has evolved. Despite arguments to discard the word due to its ambiguity, Pitkin advocates accepting representation as a large concept with various meanings. Pitkin uses Machiavelli's works The Prince and The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius to create a relationship between Machiavelli's thought and human political life. Manhood and autonomy are the two main points of controversy through which Pitkin evaluates Machiavelli's political teachings. In the book, Pitkin first seeks to answer questions of threatening women and later evaluates Machiavelli's misogyny in the book's final section. == Perspective on Niccoló Machiavelli ==

Niccoló Machiavelli is evaluated by Pitkin in Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccoló Machiavelli (1984, 1999). Ultimately, Pitkin believes that he is a republican and a protofascist. Pitkin approaches Machiavelli with ambivalence, believing that he is controversial but also misunderstood. Although Machiavelli publishes works during the Renaissance, Pitkin believes that Machiavelli is misogynistic and patriarchal because his main concern of manhood bleeds into both public and private human relations. Pitkin considers and accepts Machiavelli's language as inherently sexual, but disagrees with its provocativity. Pitkin aims to use rather than argue against Machiavelli's political thought to understand human political interactions. == Critics ==

The Concept of Representation Critics of The Concept of Representation (1967) argue that Pitkin approaches the issue of representation from the wrong angle. It is argued that Pitkin's dependence on linguistics is not what makes her argument sound, but rather her knowledge as a political theorist. Additionally, Pitkin's criticisms of Thomas Hobbes are argued against, as she believes that Hobbes offers only partial representation through authorizing one sovereign to act for its people. In these political explanations, it is believed that Pitkin relies on mistaken assumptions: Pitkin first assumes the parallel between British and American political experiences and also neglects the role of workers' unions in modern societies as a means for representation. Overall, critics claim that Pitkin omits key facets of representation in its many forms. Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccoló Machiavelli Critics of Pitkin in Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccoló Machiavelli (1984, 1999) disagree with Pitkin's assessment of Machiavelli's misogyny for a variety of reasons. It is claimed that Pitkin's argued thesis is repetitive and rigid, ultimately weakening her argument. In her arguments, Pitkin does not acknowledge that the Italian language, which Machiavelli wrote in, did not include gender neutral terms, making Machiavelli seem more patriarchal than he was. In Pitkin's rigid, feminist stance against Machiavelli guided by psychoanalysis, it can also be argued that her theory is misleading and utopian because it does not consider the historical period of Machiavelli's writings. Opposing arguments, rather than viewing Pitkin as being too rigid, believe Pitkin excuses Machiavelli's misogyny through evaluations of Machiavelli only at his best moments. Although all critics comment upon Pitkin's assessment of Machiavelli's misogyny, they take various stances. == Awards and legacy ==

In 2003, she was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science "for her groundbreaking theoretical work, predominantly on the problem of representation". This has been awarded to twenty five recipients since its creation in 1995. As of 2025, only eight of these twenty five recipients have been women. Some of her students are noteworthy political scientists such as David Laitin (Stanford University), Dan Avnon (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), Lisa Wedeen (University of Chicago), and Mary G. Dietz (Northwestern University). == References ==