The Politics of Misrecognition

The past several decades have seen the emergence of a vigorous ongoing debate about the 'politics of recognition'. The initial impetus was provided by the reflections of Charles Taylor and others (1992) about the rights to cultural recognition of historically marginalized groups in Western societies. Since then, the parameters of the debate have considerably broadened. While debates about the politics of recognition have yielded significant theoretical insights into recognition, its logical and necessary counterpart, misrecognition, has been relatively neglected. The Politics of Misrecognition is the most meticulous reflection to date on the importance of misrecognition for our understandings of political and personal experience. A team of leading experts from a range of disciplines, including philosophy, political theory, sociology, psychoanalysis, history, moral economy and criminology present different theoretical frameworks in which the politics of misrecognition may be understood and later apply these to wide variety of contexts, including those of class identity, disability, slavery, criminal victimization and domestic abuse. Together they provide an essential resource for anyone interested in dynamics of misrecognition and their implications for the development of political and social theory.