Recognition or Redistribution? A Critical Examination of The Debate between Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
CHEN, YI-CHUN
Abstract
The concept of ‘recognition’, as developed by Charles Taylor and having become a key word in modern political philosophy, is employed to underline the implications of identity politics and cultural differences. With the advent of these phenomena, the focus of traditional politics has moved from mere resource redistribution to recognition. Globalization and the expansion of capitalism, however, have aggravated the poverty gap problem. Thus the problems of redistribution remain to be taken seriously. Given that recognition and redistribution are both urgent issues to be addressed in a theory of justice, there are conflicting demands that only a comprehensive framework can accommodate: identity politics encourages uniqueness among individual groups, while economic redistribution requires eliminating differences to achieve equality. How should we resolve the tension between recognition and redistribution?
Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth have engaged in a debate on these issues. Fraser argues against replacing redistribution with recognition, and brings up her “perspective dualism” to place the two ideals on an equal footing. Honneth, on his part, conceives recognition as the fundamental value of justice. He recasts it in three categories to explain the socialist ideal of treating redistribution as a subvariety of the struggle for recognition. Through an examination of the debate between Fraser and Honneth, this dissertation intends to figure out the proper relationship between recognition and redistribution. By asking three questions on equality, I conclude that whether to search for culture recognition or economic redistribution, the ultimate concern is about resources redistribution. Real equality can only be realized through political procedures and institutions of law.
Subjects
RECOGNITION
REDISTRIBUTION
NANCY FRASER
AXEL HONNETH
THE POLITICS OF RECOGNITION
SDGs
Type
thesis
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