Exploring the micro-politics of recognition

Abstract

As part of the book symposium on Getting Respect by Lamont et al., this essay explores the micro-politics of recognition and their context-specific varieties in the U.S., Brazil and Israel. The essay scrutinizes the action-theoretical assumptions inherent in the authors’ phenomenological exploration of experiences of, and responses to, ethno-racial exclusion among ordinary people. Furthermore, it critically discusses the role of groupness, classification systems and idioms of nationhood, respectively, for explaining variations in the micro-politics of recognition. Finally, it argues that the book’s nuanced comparative analysis highlights fundamental tensions between citizenship and national belonging, thus calling to reconsider the ambivalence of individual and group rights for struggles over recognition in culturally diverse and divided societies.