Interdependent relationship between action and power in Hannah Arendt's political thought

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the interdependent relation between action and power in Hannah Arendt’s political thought. In this study, it is argued that reading Arendt’s political theory by considering action as the only defining aspect of her understanding of politics is misleading. Power constitutes the public realm, and brings remedies to the unpredictability and individualism of action through mutual promising and recognition. In this respect, power relations provide recognition, evaluation and meaning for action in the public realm. Outside the context of power, action loses its revelatory function in disclosing the identity of an individual and retreats from the public realm.