Ambivalent Recognition

The Harmful Social Consequences of an Ethical Good

Kristina Lepold (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

248 Seiten

2026
Columbia University Press (Verlag)
978-0-231-21729-3 (ISBN)

Noch nicht erschienen (ca. April 2026)
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Recognition has become one of the key concepts of contemporary critical theory, heralded by thinkers such as Axel Honneth and Charles Taylor. It is widely claimed that a person must be recognized by others in order to realize their own identity and that the lack of recognition constitutes a form of oppression or injustice. Is recognition always a good thing?

In this ambitious and compelling book, Kristina Lepold challenges the common assumption that recognition is positive, emphasizing its ambivalent role in social life. She offers a systematic account of the complex nature of recognition, showing how it can implicate us in oppressive or otherwise problematic arrangements. Lepold engages with different approaches for thinking about recognition—including Axel Honneth’s influential theory, as well as arguments made by Louis Althusser, Pierre Bourdieu, and Judith Butler—which she reconstructs in a nuanced and accessible fashion.

By one of the most original voices in the new generation of critical theorists, Ambivalent Recognition is a must-read for anyone interested in not only one of critical theory’s key concepts but also the larger question of why unjust social arrangements often prove so stubborn and difficult to change.

Kristina Lepold is junior professor of social philosophy and critical theory at Humboldt University Berlin and an associated member of the Center for Social Critique. Ciaran Cronin has translated numerous works of political philosophy and social theory by prominent authors including Jürgen Habermas and Rainer Forst. Martin Saar is professor of social philosophy at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main.

Foreword, by Martin Saar
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Context of Honneth’s Theory of Recognition
2. The Foundations of Honneth’s Theory of Recognition
3. The Struggle for Recognition
4. Althusser and the Reproduction of the Social Order
5. Bourdieu and the Reproduction of Social Inequality
6. Butler and the Reproduction of Binary Gender Normality
7. Ambivalent Recognition
Notes
References
Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	14.4.2026
Reihe/Serie	New Directions in Critical Theory ; 93
Übersetzer	Ciaran Cronin
Vorwort	Martin Saar
Zusatzinfo	3 b&w illustrations
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 216 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
ISBN-10	0-231-21729-3 / 0231217293
ISBN-13	978-0-231-21729-3 / 9780231217293
Zustand	Neuware