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18 Res Publica 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/respub18 and id is 1 raw text is: Res Publica (2012) 18:1-9 DOI 10.1007/s11158-012-9181-7 Theory and Practice in the Politics of Recognition and Misrecognition Wendy Martineau - Nasar Meer - Simon Thompson Published online: 7 February 2012 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 In recent years, the idea of the politics of recognition has become an increasingly popular way of thinking about a wide range of political phenomena, from the logic of social struggles to the nature of social justice. While the provenance of the idea of recognition in social and political theory may be traced to a number of intellectual traditions (Laegaard 2005), the two most prominent contemporary proponents arguably begin their dialogues with the same source (Toppinen 2005). Charles Taylor's essay on 'The Politics of Recognition' (1994) and Axel Honneth's book Kampf um Anerkennung (1992), both widely regarded as landmark texts on the topic, spend some time engaging with-both appropriating and departing from- Hegel's philosophical system. Taylor opens his account by highlighting the way in which contemporary politics has become significantly shaped by the need or demand for recognition made by oppressed or marginalized individuals and groups. He draws on Hegel and Rousseau, amongst others, to give a philosophical and historical account of how the concept of recognition has come to have this wide-ranging resonance, arguing that recognition is not just a courtesy we owe people, but 'a vital human need' (1994, p. 26), one crucial to our ability to become full human agents. This claim stems from the account of the fundamentally dialogical character of human identity which W. Martineau School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, 34 Tyndalls Park Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1TY, UK e-mail: wendymartineau@hotmail.co.uk N. Meer School of Arts and Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Lipman Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NEl 8ST, UK e-mail: Nasar.Meer@northumbria.ac.uk S. Thompson (E) Department of Arts, University of the West of England, Frenchay, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK e-mail: Simon.Thompson@uwe.ac.uk I Springer