“Identity or Status?”
7/17/03
Page 1
Identity or Status? Struggles over “Recognition” in
Fraser, Honneth, and Taylor
Abstract: Although most critical theories of recognition begin with a
model that relates individual identity development to social structures of
group recognition, Nancy Fraser has recently proposed a model that
begins from an external, social-scientific point of view, focusing
specifically on groups that suffer from institutionalized status
subordination. She attempts to demonstrate the advantage of this model
by comparing it with the deficits of identity-based theories put forward by
Axel Honneth and Charles Taylor. This paper argues that although
Fraser’s general critical social theory yields important improvements over
these competing models, the improvements are not in general due to the
adoption of a status-based model of recognition.
Word Count: 7,209
Keywords: Recognition, Identity, Status, Social Justice
I
Introduction
How are we to understand the changing forms of political struggle evinced in
Western constitutional democracies, in particular, the rise of demands for social and
political recognition of distinctive group identities? What exactly is the nature of the
harm or injustice such movements are contesting? Do such identity-based struggles
promote overall social justice within a society or might they detract from egalitarian and
universalist ideals by tending towards new forms of sectarianism? And how should a
social theory oriented by an emancipatory intent comprehend and evaluate these new
social movements for recognition, without ignoring more traditional problems of
economic inequality that have remained with us?
Prominent theories of recognition have usually started from the intersubjectivist
insight that individual identity is formed only in and through social relations of
Convention