Ambivalence, universality, and collectives—Three questions for recognition theory

Abstract

This text outlines three interlinked questions for contemporary recognition theory: (a) the question of ambivalence, (b) the question of universality/historicity, and (c) the question of collective recognition. It is argued that all the questions present “forks” in the theoretical road, providing two or more distinct pathways forward. Different responses to these questions lead to three distinct approaches to recognition theory and, consequently, three different interpretations of recognition theory as a critical theory: (1) an anthropologically grounded universal theory of recognition; (2) an institutionally mediated universal theory of recognition; or (3) a localized and historicized theory of recognition. The article concludes that a deeper analysis of the institutional mediation of recognition and recognition institutions is required to clarify the differences between the available positions and to enable informed choices to be made between them.