Politics of Recognition

Reservations, Federalism, and the Politics of Recognition in Nepal (and India)

by Sara Shneiderman

Co-authored with Townsend Middleton

How Does Recognition Emerge from Nature? The Genesis of Consciousness in Hegel’s Jena Writings

by Italo Testa

Draft, forthcoming in “Critical Horizons”, Special Issue edited by J.-P. Deranty & H. Hikaeheimo, 2012

The paper proposes a reconstruction of some fragments of Hegel’s Jena manuscripts concerning the natural genesis of... more The paper proposes a reconstruction of some fragments of Hegel’s Jena manuscripts concerning the natural genesis of recognitive spiritual consciousness. On this basis it  will be argued that recognition has a foothold in nature. As a consequence, recognition should not be understood as a bootstrapping process, that is, as a self-positing and self-justifying normative social phenomenon, intelligible within itself and independently of anything external to it.

An evaluation of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) through the lens of restorative justice and the theory of recognition

by Konstantin Petoukhov

Taylor and the problem of recognizing cultural groups

by Onni Hirvonen

Published in 'Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory'

Recognition of cultural groups is an issue that puzzles those involved in the discussions around multiculturalism.... more Recognition of cultural groups is an issue that puzzles those involved in the discussions around multiculturalism. Charles Taylor (1994) has done important groundwork in his ‘The politics of recognition’ where different possibilities of multicultural policy-making are discussed. This article concentrates on one social ontological problem that can be found in Taylor’s widely recognized theory. This article proceeds as follows. At first, Taylor’s view on recognition is briefly introduced. This view potentially faces the reification problem, which states that recognizing a group that is not really an agent might result in
misrecognition and disrespect of individual members of the group. The forms of misrecognition and disrespect range from homogenizing sets of individuals to forced identities and dissonance between individual and collective identities. After the problems of cultural recognition have been made clear, insights from the field of social ontology are brought into the picture. The agency of cultural groups is not self-evident, and in this paper it is argued that Taylor faces a problem when he grants agency to certain kinds of groups that are not really agents. This can be shown using the tools provided by contemporary analytical
social ontology. Finally, a tentative way of conceptualizing cultural recognition is offered. The suggestion is that, despite its vagueness, Taylor’s position includes elements that enable incorporating a robust social ontological theory into it. If this is done, many of the worries stated in the reification problem might be avoided.

Keywords: cultural groups; group recognition; multiculturalism; recognition;
social ontology; Taylor

Law, Politics, and the Conception of the State in State Recognition Theory

by William Worster

The competing theories of state recognition and their failings actively demonstrate that recognition of a state does... more The competing theories of state recognition and their failings actively demonstrate that recognition of a state does not have any normative content per se, but rather, that the rules of state recognition, although legal rules, are legal vehicles for political choices. We have the dilemma of concurrently wanting the right cases to result in independent states while prohibiting the wrong ones from becoming so, and so we sail between political choices, using the language of law. The state is neither truly free to recognize another entity nor entirely bound. Differing cases require different legal criteria and different legal results. This flexibility in state recognition theory though, while depriving the act of any inherent legal meaning, has value in its utility for establishing lawful relationships.

This paper will argue that the reason we find it difficult to resolve the controversy over state recognition theory is because the international legal system translates political controversies into legal questions that can then be addressed through legal means. Legal actors, by announcing preference for one side of the question, often reveal certain legal and moral choices they are making about the nature of the state and the legitimacy of the international legal system - law and politics. In the area of state recognition, no theory of recognition has extinguished competition because no political choice has gained universal acceptance. The predominant political choice is most frequently deliberate indeterminacy, a co-existence of mutually opposing arguments. This indeterminacy is most likely deliberate because it permits the underlying rationale for the legal actor’s policies to change and evolve to suit the situation.

Introduction (française)

by Gonçalo Marcelo

The Politics of Recognition

by Helen Meekosha

(2001) “The Politics of Recognition or the Politics of Presence: The Challenge of disability”, in Sawer, Marian and Zappalà, Gianni (Eds) Representation: Theory and Practice in Australian Politics; Melbourne, Melbourne University Press.

Themes of recognition and reification in KS Maniam's Novels

by Raihanah M Mydin

In the novels of the Malaysian Indian K. S. Maniam, the contestation of recognition and reification forms the central... more In the novels of the Malaysian Indian K. S. Maniam, the contestation of recognition and reification forms the central tension in the protagonists' identity development as members of a minority community in the multi-ethnic landscape of Malaya/Malaysia. Each central character's conflict lies in
his/her ability/disability to balance accepting ethno-cultural recognition on the one hand and contesting the reification that the Indian ethnic group subjects him/her to on the other (subsequently championing what Michael Sandel coins an "unencumbered" sense of self – a self that is "free and
independent" from "the sanctions of custom and tradition"). This paper discusses Maniam's three novels, The return, In a far country and Between Lives, to ascertain the extent to which recognition and reification are important themes in the award-winning novelist's corpus. Using the conceptualisation of recognition, reification and the unencumbered self, the
paper investigates how Maniam's three Indian Malaysian protagonists, Ravi, Rajan and Sumitra, like most members of minority communities who are faced with the challenges of a multi-ethnic social landscape, challenge the ethno-cultural imposition that their own ethnic community subjects them to
while realising the significance of culture towards a healthy sense of selves.

Asymmetry of Recognition: Law, Society and Customary Land Tenure in Australia

by Laurent Dousset

GLASKIN K. & DOUSSET L., Katie & Laurent 2011. Asymmetry of Recognition: Law, Society and Customary Land Tenure in Australia, Pacific Studies, 34(2/3): 142-156.

In Australia, the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) provided the legislative means to resolve native title claims.... more In Australia, the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) provided the legislative means to resolve native title claims. Successive judgments in the High Court have refined apparently ambiguous areas within the legislation. The High Court’s decision in the Yorta Yorta native title case (2002) was particularly consequential for native title claims throughout Australia. The Yorta Yorta precedent established a link between the laws and customs that give rise to native title rights and interests, and the society that acknowledges these laws and customs. It thus drew a direct link between the notion of a ‘society’ and its ‘laws’ (and the continuity of both) that has been applied to subsequent native title cases. In this paper, we examine the question of the relationship between a ‘society’ and its ‘laws’ as a requirement of native title recognition. In doing so, we wish to problematise the equivalence that is seemingly drawn between a ‘society’ and its laws, and to question what recognition really means in this context. We argue that recognition here is the consequence of ‘re-cognising’ Indigenous forms of customary tenure as framed by what are already ‘acceptable’ social forms. Recognition is in this context grounded on two problematic aspects. Firstly, it is reframing the real world into pre-existing models. Secondly but simultaneously, the concept of recognition is itself based on a ‘necessarily’ unequal power relationship between those who recognise and those who are recognised.

A Vital Human Need - Recognition as Inclusion in Personhood

by Heikki Ikaheimo

Making the best of what we are - recognition as an ontological and ethical concept

by Heikki Ikaheimo

Published in Schmidt am Busch & Zurn (eds.): The Philosophy of Recognition. Lexinngton Books, 2010.

Review of the book:
Review of the book:
http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=21328

Personhood and the social inclusion of people with disabilities

by Heikki Ikaheimo

The book: more The book: http://www.routledgesociology.com/books/Arguing-about-Disability-isbn9780415455954

A review: http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5261&cn=394

Which Multiculturalism?

by Gurol Irzik

co-authored with Sibel Irzık

This paper discusses the debates around multiculturalism both as a politics of recognition and as a proposed epistemic... more This paper discusses the debates around multiculturalism both as a politics of recognition and as a proposed epistemic position in the context of science education. It concludes that there are neither uncontroversial ethical and political grounds, nor tenable epistemic reasons, for linking a multiculturalist approach to science education with a non-universalist approach to science, nor for a refusal to make evaluative comparisons between different sorts of knowledge claims originating in different cultures.

Incidents of Travel

by Ju Hui Judy Han

Han, J. 1998. Incidents of Travel. In Q&A: Queer in Asian America, ed. David L. Eng and Alice Y. Hom, 398 – 404. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Invisible families: homosexuality, everyday-life and social policies

by Cirus Rinaldi

Symposium “Understanding gender identity and sexual orientations in Turkey”, Bilgi University, Instambul, Turkey, 3-5 may 2004

This paper  aims to stress the (missing) field of the analysis of experiences of the families of young... more This paper  aims to stress the (missing) field of the analysis of experiences of the families of young homosexuals – which is substantially absent, apart from some initial contributions, from the scientific literature in Italy, whether sociological or juridical or psychological. Focusing on the rising of new social needs and demands of sexual minority groups, the papers takes into account the challenges that these requests represent for social policy agendas in terms of coping with everyday life dimension and the recognition of their reflexive component within family life.
Trough an interdisciplinary analysis of families’ experiencing the shock caused by the coming out of his/her son/daughter(research run by who writes, Claudio Cappotto, Lucia Bonuccelli and Chiara Bertone), we pay attention to the coping strategies (and the heterogeneous reactions of different families of our pilot study, which are not strictly allied to their social characteristics) and the process of change in family relations triggered by the coming out. We also discuss the sexual dimension and social policies from an everyday-life perspective highlighting the need also to consider the prejudice of "the taken for grantedness" and stressing the responsive dimension of public policies (beginning from the discussion of the possible policies suggested by the families themselves). Our reflections are based on case studies, presented here anonymously, whose data are taken from interviews to families from Northern, Central, and Southern Italy: the main problem in carrying out  research in Italy was finding families of young homosexuals willing to be interviewed. This proved difficult for several reasons. In Italy, disclosure of one’s homosexuality in the family is apparently taking place earlier than before among the younger generations: existing research suggests that the majority of interviewed gays and lesbians between 19 and 23 are visible to both mother and father. However, disclosure still seems to take place towards the end of the teenage years. Altogether, there remains a problem of visibility not only within the families of young gays and lesbians, but also for the families themselves. At the same time, public advisory services for adolescents pay little attention to homosexuality; consequently, these were not used to recruit families for the research.  The strategy adopted was rather to rely on the AGEDO, the lack of a more established network of self-help groups militated against finding families willing to take part. We have therefore used data to identify the personal, social, and cultural resources that families have mobilised, but also to understand the role AGEDO played as one of the resources used in coping with the event of discovering the homosexuality of a family member. Observation of the state of social relations, primarily within the family, but also among peers, would seem to be an essential element in assessing the degree of isolation, the fragility of reference points, and the sense of belonging to the collectivity, experienced by young homosexuals. In short, the need for support evinced by the families is on the one hand connected to changes in the general culture, which would allow the families to be better prepared, and have cultural and communicative tools available, to manage the shock of finding out that a son/daughter or brother/sister was homosexual.  On the other hand, the development of more specific forms of support, especially “horizontal” forms through self-help groups, implies an active, integrated role for GLBT services and associations operating in an area but also socio-juridical tools and policy interventions.

Political reconciliation through a struggle for recognition?

by Andrew Schaap

Social and Legal Studies 13(4) 2004: 523–540

In societies divided by a history of political violence, political reconciliation depends on transforming a relation... more In societies divided by a history of political violence, political reconciliation depends on transforming a relation of enmity into one of civic friendship. In such contexts, the discourse of recognition provides a ready frame in terms of which reconciliation might be conceived. Yet social theorists are divided in their assessment of the eman- cipatory potential of the struggle for recognition. For Charles Taylor, it establishes the possibility of reconciliation through a reciprocal dialogue oriented towards a fusion of horizons. Yet Frantz Fanon highlights the violent appropriation inherent in the logic of recognition that curtails the possibility of reconciliation. I demonstrate that Taylor’s optimism about the possibility of reconciliation through a struggle for recognition is unwarranted. For, although recognition provides the rough ground in terms of which an ethical encounter between former enemies becomes possible, it tends to fix the terms on which a reconciliatory politics might be enacted in a way that reduces the prospect of community between them. This argument is developed through a consideration of the legal-politics of reconciliation in Australia. But against Fanon’s pessimism, I advocate an agonistic reconciliation, according to which political actors would indefinitely postpone the moment of positive recognition while staking the prospect of community on the non-identity of the other, i.e. that quality in the other that cannot be reduced to the terms of identity or otherness.

Bound by recognition. The narration of religion in international relations

by Maria Birnbaum

Paper presented at the ECPR conference in Reykjavik, August 2011

Within the narrative accounts in International Relations (IR) which push for a historically sensitive and... more Within the narrative accounts in International Relations (IR) which push for a historically sensitive and constructively conscious approach to religion, the values of de-essentialization and recognition are held high. A de-essentialized approach is argued to be necessary in order to break with the common – ’Westphalian’ – understanding of religion as an essentially apolitical, privatized set of internally directed beliefs, which constitutes the secular self-understanding of the discipline. Pointing to the fact that the secular character of IR and thus the exclusion of religion from the discipline is contestable, scholars continue to argue for a ’reversal’ of this exclusionary trend, emphasizing the value of recognition and inclusion of religion into IR. However, these twin imperatives of de-essentialization and recognition are, I argue, not always easily reconciled. As the imperative of de-essentialization seeks to question the very essence and stability of our concepts, the imperatives of inclusion and recognition seem to necessarily reify them. This paper asks if we are bound to reify the category of religion through our attempts to recognize it as relevant in international politics. In order to address this question, this paper will first (1) describe the different attempts which aim to include religion in IR scholarship while simultaneously avoiding the essentialization of the category itself. Secondly (2) it will analyze the possible tensions which occur between the imperatives of inclusion and de-essentialization within these different attempts and finally (3) sketch a manner in which to approach this tension differently, drawing on literature of recognition and reification (Honneth/Fraser, Markell, Connolly).

Religion, Family Law, and Recognition of Identity in Nigeria

by M. Christian Green

Symposium Issue, Religious Norms and Family Law in Pluralistic Democratics States, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and M. Christian Green, Guest Editors Emory International Law Review, 25(2) (Fall 2011)

In this article, I will provide a brief, recent history of clashes in Nigeria as they relate to issues of religion,... more In this article, I will provide a brief, recent history of clashes in Nigeria as they relate to issues of religion, family, and identity. I will then discuss some of the key features of Muslim-Christian contestation in Nigeria as revealed in the recent survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religious Life, titled Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa. I will then address the question of whether Muslim-Christian contestation in Nigeria should be construed as a matter of religion qua religion, or of “religion by proxy.” Finally, I will offer an analysis of what this contestation over religion, family, and recognition of identity augurs for the prospects for moderate shari’a and juridical pluralism in Nigeria.

Ricoeur's Surprising Take on Recognition

by Arto Laitinen

Études Ricoeuriennes / Ricoeur Studies, Vol 2, No 1 (2011), pp. 35-50
ISSN 2155-1162 (online) DOI 10.5195/errs.2011.57
http://ricoeur.pitt.edu

This appeared in a new internet journal dedicated to Ricoeur's work, in their special issue on recognition. My paper's... more This appeared in a new internet journal dedicated to Ricoeur's work, in their special issue on recognition. My paper's in English, but the editors kindly translated the abstract into French as well, so here goes:

Résumé
Cet article examine les thèses de Paul Ricoeur sur la reconnaissance dans son livre Parcours de la reconnaissance. Il met en lumière des aspects de cet ouvrage qui peuvent, en plusieurs sens, nous suprendre, au regard des ouvrages antérieurs du philosophe, ou encore au regard des débats généraux sur l’Anerkennung hégélienne et sur les politiques de reconnaissance. Après avoir dressé un aperçu général du livre, la contribution analyse le sens du terme de ‚reconnaissance‚ dans la conceptualisation Ricoeurienne, dans les dictionnaires que Ricoeur mobilise à l’appui de son argumentation, et dans les débats contemporains. Ensuite, l’article s’attarde sur l’idée de reconnaissance comme identification et comme ‚tenir pour vrai‚. Puis, il se tourne vers la reconnaissance (attestation) de soi-même, à travers la distinction entre les ‚invariants humains‚ (et la question ‚qu’est-ce que je suis?‚), et les ‚variations humaines ‚ (et la question ‚qui suis-je?‚). La dernière section se focalise sur la dialectique entre les luttes pour la reconnaissance et les états de paix, d’une part, et la relation interne entre le contenu d’une demande normative et ce qui importe comme satisfaisant une demande, d’autre part.

Mots-clés: Paul Ricoeur, Reconnaissance, Attestation, Identité, Invariants humains

A Reading of Love in Hölderlin's 'Andenken'

by Katrin Pahl

The German Quarterly, 78:2 (2005)

At the heart of my reading of Hölderlin's poem "Andenken," lies the question of mutuality: how best to... more At the heart of my reading of Hölderlin's poem "Andenken," lies the question of mutuality: how best to understand mutuality and how to realize it. Drawing on my unconventional rendition of Hegel's theory of recognition, I will read the blowing of the wind presented by "Andenken" as a conversation between lovers--indeed as the intersection of two conversations, one between Friedrich Hölderlin and Susette Gontard, and one between the poet and the reader. Working with the lines "Doch gut / Ist ein Gespräch" and "Mancher /Trägt Scheue" as the main coordinates of this interpretation, I will develop a theory of reading that calls on the reader to contribute to the poem's efforts to facilitate a love that is mutual. In a further multiplication of crossed couples, the human lovers are interlaced with the poem's several pairs of trees until finally a Gespräch not so much in, but among, words emerges in the form of asymmetrical chiasms--that is, of unfinished, non-reciprocal but nevertheless mutual exchanges.