In this post I will look at the four articles provided, which were on: the abortion issue in Britain, Kony 2012, the Chilean student protests, and the killing of Trayvon Martin. I will be considering whether any of these may be classified as Action, under Arendt's definition.
In my opinion the abortion debate in the UK has two distinct parts, on of protest and one of discussion. The protest portion presumably is organized in order to outlaw abortion in the UK. I believe this would not qualify as action because it has an end goal, due to this goal it seems to qualify as Work. However, the discussion side, that is the question of whether abortion is morally permissible or not, may fit Arendt's view of Action. Although their is a goal, to answer a question, it is abstract and possibly does not have an answer. Moreover, the rightness or wrongness does not have a bearing on the Labor world of Arendt's, but the passage of law might. Although the debate does not necessarily occur in some atmosphere like the Polis, although it may occur in parliament, I think with the advances in technology that newspaper articles, online discussion, etc. may be able to make the whole population into a group, which is necessary for Action. Therefore, I would classify the discussion of the issue as Action.
The Kony 2012 new video release calls for more 'action' in struggling against Joseph Kony the Ugandan Warlord. I argue that a call to action like this would be classified as Work; it has a goal, it has an end, it is not an open ended discussion. Even though the video ends on a note about justice (whose definition was a debate in ancient Greece, a debate which I believe would be classified as Action by Arendt) I don't think it can classify as Action because it is saying that to be just is to help us stop Joseph Kony. That is, rather than asking what Justice is and starting some sort of discussion.
The article about the Chilean student protests gives us a summary of the events involved and interlaces this with a journalists experience in Chile and with some of the leaders and members of the movement. I think Action may be occurring in some arenas. Possibly if there are discussions without the purpose of education reform, perhaps something like what makes education good? why do we educate? However, the protests themselves are so tied up in the idea of causing a change that it is Work or maybe even Labor (since it has to do with the jobs people will have). Therefore I do not think that the protests represent Action.
The article about the shooting of Trayvon Martin represents some areas that I think might be action. Primarily those living in Sanford who are discussing the rightness of the actions of that night and maybe of past actions in the city, be that by Zimmerman or the Police or the local courts. If these debates are open ended discussions, ethical considerations, or questions about the effects this incident might have on our nation then I think they can be called Action. The problem of a definable group for this action may prove troublesome to its classification. However, I think that the debate could have some effect on future political action, no matter what group the discussion takes place in. When we look at people who are just saying, "send him to jail!" or, "he is innocent!" or other similar statements what should be done, then I think it ceases to be action, and may be more like work. There is definitely a goal in these sorts of statements, and this goal does not deal with necessity so it must be a Work oriented one.
Overall, it seems to me like many situations in today's world that we might call political action of sorts should be classified more as Work or maybe as considerations of Labor. This is of course just my opinion.
I agree that the Kony 2012 campaign is more likely to fall under Arendt's definition of work. The Invisible Children organization has a clear goal, to spread awareness regarding Joseph Kony's use of child soldiers and have the international community hold him accountable for war crimes. Although this is a noble cause, I feel as if something along the lines of "More children die of malnutrition and lack of clean water in Uganda on a daily basis than they have under Joseph Kony's reign, so why are we so focused on this issue?" would be a more appropriate type of "Action". Beyond that, the Invisible Children organization has come under additional scrutiny for only using roughly 13% of the money they raise for children in Uganda, and spend the rest on lobbying their cause and travel expenses. This reminds me of the passage regarding how power is realized - and it is not when words veil intentions.
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