Recognition in International Relations Rethinking a Political Concept in a Global Context

Recognition is a basic human need. A prominent debate in Political Philosophy and Theory has highlighted the significance of this concept in daily life and in politics. Both individual and collective actors can experience misrecognition or non-recognition by significant other actors, which is often framed in terms of injustice and drives many social conflicts. However, recognition is not a panacea to all societal ills, and its multi-faceted effects in the international realm have, so far, been under-acknowledged.

In assembling contributions from International Relations, Political Theory and International Law, this volume advances interdisciplinary theoretical engagements and builds on empirical investigations into the struggles for recognition among global political subjects. Focusing on established states, unrecognised states and non-state actors, the contributors share the assumption that recognition is to be conceived of as a gradual process and that it is an ambiguous concept both in theory and political practice.

Christopher Daase is Professor of International Organisations at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, and head of the International Institutions research department at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt in Germany.

Caroline Fehl is a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. She has published various articles in the European Journal of International Relations and Review of International Studies.

Anna Geis is Professor of International Relations at the University of Magdeburg. Her previous publications include Democratic Wars: Looking at the Dark Side of Democratic Peace (co-edited with Lothar Brock and Harald Müller, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Georgios Kolliarakis is a Senior Researcher in Political Science at Goethe University Frankfurt. Among his previous publications are articles for the journal Sicherheit und Frieden (Security and Peace).

PART I: CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS
1. Gradual Processes, Ambiguous Consequences: Rethinking Recognition in International Relations; Anna Geis, Caroline Fehl, Christopher Daase and Georgios Kolliarakis
2. Recognition between States? Moving beyond Identity Politics; Mattias Iser
PART II: RECOGNITION AMONG STATES
3. China's Place in Four Recognition Regimes, Erik Ringmar
4. Constructing the July Crisis: The Practice of Recognition and the Making of the First World War ; Michelle Murray
5. Seeking Status Recognition Through Military Symbols: German and Indian Armament Policies Between Strategic Rationalizations and Prestige Moves; Sven-Eric Fikenscher, Lena Jaschob and Reinhard Wolf
6. Understanding the Puzzle of Unequal Recognition: The Case of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Caroline Fehl
PART III: RECOGNITION OF STATES AND GOVERNMENTS
7. (Non)Recognition Policies in Secession Conflicts and the Shadow of the Right of Self-Determination; Stefan Oeter
8. Reconceptualizing Recognition of States and Governments; Brad R. Roth
9. Statebuilding and the Politics of Non-Recognition; Rebecca Richards and Robert Smith
10. Recognition as a Second Order Problem in the Resolution of Self-Determination Conflicts; Georgios Kolliarakis
PART IV: RECOGNITION AMONG STATES AND NON-STATE ACTORS
11. Recognition Going Awry: NGOs and the Global Rise of the Unelected; Volker M. Heins
12. Gradual Recognition: Curbing Non-State Violence in Asymmetric Conflict ; Janusz Biene and Christopher Daase
13. The Dark Side of Recognition: Mutual Exclusiveness of Passive and Active Recognition in the Middle East Conflict; Claudia Hofmann and Carolin Goerzig
PART V: CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS
14. Legal Precision or Fuzzy Feelings? A Diplomatic Comment on Recognition Studies; Alyson J. K. Bailes
15. Acts of Recognition, Shades of Respect; Nicholas Onuf