characterizations of injustice in this dimension seem to refer to a distinct set
of obstacles to participatory parity that are ‘‘political’’ in a narrow sense:
‘‘electoral rules that deny voice to quasi-permanent minorities,’’ for instance
(Fraser 2003 b, 68 ). At other times, however, Fraser seems to have in mind a
kind of injustice that is prior to the issue of participatory parity altogether. If
the norm of participatory parity tells us that ‘‘justice requires social arrange-
ments that permit all (adult) members of society to interact with one another
as peers’’ (Fraser 2003 b, 36 ), this nevertheless begs a question: ‘‘Who are the
subjects among whom parity of participation is required’’ (Fraser 2003 b, 88 )?
Fraser’s question reminds us that the application of the norm of participatory
parityalwaysfollows a kind of distributive logic, for that norm aims to ensure
that goods—whether material or cultural—are allocated in a way that pro-
motes parity among a group whose membership is known. But just distribu-
tions of this kind depend on a prior willingness to acknowledge the networks
of relationship and interdependence that make one’s own actions relevant to
others (and vice versa), even when those networks reach outside what Fraser
calls the ‘‘frames’’ that we ordinarily use to map our obligations (Fraser
2003 b, 87 – 8 ). We do not know in advance who the others are to whom this
prior sort of justice is owed: that’s the point; and it is what distinguishes
recognition in the sense of acknowledgment—which is directed in theWrst
instance at oneself and one’s own practicalWnitude—from both redistribu-
tion and recognition as those terms are ordinarily understood.
References
Althusser,L. 1971. Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (notes toward an
investigation). InLenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, trans. B. Brewster. New
York: Monthly Review Press.
Baum,B. 2004. Feminist politics of recognition.Signs, 29 ( 4 ): 1073 – 102.
Beauvoir,S.de 1989.The Second Sex, trans. H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage.
Benhabib,S. 2002. From redistribution to recognition? The paradigm change in
contemporary politics. In S. Benhabib,The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diver-
sity in the Global Era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Benjamin,J. 1988 .The Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of
Domination. New York: Pantheon.
Berlin,I. 1969. Two concepts of liberty. In I. Berlin,Four Essays on Liberty. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
recognition and redistribution 463