Recognition and toleration

Is “recognition” a more “difference friendly” alternative to toleration, replacing objection and forbearance with positive acceptance and inclusion? Is toleration ill-suited to responding to contemporary differences between groups and identities and can appeals to equal respect and rights themselves be complicit in intolerance? It is suggested here that the apparent attractiveness of recognition of positive acceptance of particular identities relies on a flawed reading of the history of toleration and of the politics of difference and a very limited account of the concept of recognition. Contrasts between religious and cultural groups and between belief and identity are less clear-cut than is typically supposed, and recognition struggles by marginalized groups are more concerned with the achievement of equality than the culturalist reading supposes. An expanded understanding of the idea of recognition reveals that not all disesteem is illegitimate and that positive esteem recognition can itself be complicit in maintaining social hierarchies. It also reveals that questions about lack of respect and esteem cannot be separated from questions about the power of others to grant or withhold recognition. A comprehensive understanding of recognition struggles underscores the need for continued reflection on the value and limits of toleration.