On claims of culture and duties of recognition in democratic states

Thompson, Simon

Abstract

© 2013 Taylor & Francis. One important way in which individuals and groups express their ideas and principles, and present their proposals and demands, is in the language of identity or difference. They argue that what they value and what they deserve are related to their distinctive identities. Working within the framework of a political theory of recognition, I argue in this article that particular cultural communities may have reasonable expectations that their distinctive identities receive public recognition, and that others may therefore have good reasons to give those identities such recognition. To be specific, I contend that there are distinct and complementary ways in which the state and its citizens should respond to identity-related demands for public recognition. Using terms introduced by Axel Honneth, I argue that the state should give ‘public attention’ to some cultural communities, and that citizens should show one another ‘well-meaning attention’. I conclude that both these forms of attention can be justified by reference to a new, fourth principle of recognition, so long as this is understood as a principle of political inclusion rather than one of cultural recognition.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 4, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2019
• Journal: Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy
• Print ISSN: 1369-8230
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-8772
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 328-348
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2013.861658
• Keywords: claims of culture, public attention, recognition, well meaning attention
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/844801
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2013.861658
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy on 25 November 2013, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13698230.2013.861658