Recognition and Ambivalence brings together leading scholars in social and political philosophy
to develop new perspectives on recognition and its role in social life. It begins with a debate
between Honneth and Butler the first sustained engagement between these two major thinkers on
this subject. Contributions from both proponents and critics of theories of recognition further
reflect upon and clarify the problems and challenges involved in theorizing the concept and its
normative desirability. Together they explore different routes toward a critical theory of
recognition departing from wholly positive or negative views to ask whether it is an
essentially ambivalent phenomenon. Featuring original systematic work in the philosophy of
recognition this book also provides a useful orientation to the key debates on this important
topic.
