Recognition, identity and social conflict: Debates in the perspective of political and social theory

Abstract

Identity debates have been a significant part of the reflections of the social sciences in the last decades, stimulated to a large extent by the authors' formulations that dealt with the subject of recognition. The views and disputes on this subject are many, and they have greatly increased; but it may be possible to organize them around a common discussion, as proposed by Rahel Jaeggi. We chose to present the notions of recognition and identity proposed by Charles Taylor, Axel Honneth and Judith Butler, trying to show that there is a connection underlying these perspectives, which are rarely read as part of the same tradition, namely, the Hegelian inheritance. Finally, we discuss the substantive differences between a positive and a negative notion of recognition and identities, and we point out the potentialities of a research agenda in social and human sciences that adopts some of the fundamental premises of negative recognition.