applications to the burning political issues of current society, such as
the challenges of multiculturalism, group identity, and conflicts
between ideologies and religions. The seminal works of this trend,
Charles Taylor’sThe Politics of Recognitionand Axel Honneth’sThe
Struggle for Recognition,^10 employ Hegelian ideas to tackle the prob-
lems of modernity.
In his influential essay on recognition, Charles Taylor investigates
the boundaries of the Kantian tradition of autonomy that manifests
itself as political liberalism. Taylor claims that some forms of liberal-
ism are blind to the differences in culture and warns of homogenizing
cultural differences because of equal treatment and universal values.
A genuine multiculturalism should employ two political strategies
simultaneously: a politics of universalism that guarantees the
autonomy and rights of individuals, and a politics of difference that
protects the identity of individuals by allowing them to protect their
distinct culture.^11 Taylor’s much-debated example concerns the
rights of French speakers in Quebec, whose cultural identity is pro-
tected by laws that sometimes seem to violate the universal equal
treatment of all citizens.^12
Taylor starts his essay by stating that contemporary politics deals
massively with the issues of recognition. Very different groups seek
recognition by political means: the desire for recognition motivates
nationalistic movements, but it is also a driving force in the political
participation of many minorities and progressive groups such as
feminists. This drive for authentic recognition is typical of modern
societies in which people can seek and construct their distinctive
identities. Such identities do not, however, emerge in a vacuum, but
they manifest the dialogical character of human existence. Although
people may mistakenly think that their identities are autonomous,
Taylor claims that they are dependent on dialogical relationships.^13
Recognition is the basic act of others who participate in this
formation of my identity. This is already apparent in the personal
relationships of love, which Taylor considers the nucleus of one’s
inner identity.^14 In the public relationships of a society, recognition
and non-recognition likewise define the identity of groups. These acts
(^10) Taylor 1995; Honneth 1992. Both works appeared originally in 1992. Thompson
2006 offers a good English introduction to Honneth.
(^11) Taylor 1995, 232–5. Cf. Thompson 2006, 10. (^12) Taylor 1995, 243–5.
(^13) Taylor 1995, 225–6, 229–30. (^14) Taylor 1995, 230–1.
6 Recognition and Religion