Understanding Recognition

As the concept of recognition shifts from philosophical theory to other fields of the humanities and social sciences, this volume explores the nature of this border category that exists in the space between sociological and philosophical considerations, related as it is to concepts such as status, prestige, the looking-glass self, respect, and dignity - at times being used interchangeably with these terms. Bringing together work from across academic disciplines, it presents theoretical conceptualizations of recognition, demonstrates its operationalization in historical and literary research, considers recognition as a fundamental problem of sociological theory and examines the concept as a marker of social distances and redistribution. An examination and demonstration of the full potential of recognition as a category, Understanding Recognition: Conceptual and Empirical Studies explores the contemporary meanings and manifestations of recognition and sheds light on its capacity to complement the notions of status, class or prestige. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology and social theory, philosophy, history and literary studies.

Piotr Kulas is University Professor at the Faculty of 'Artes Liberales' at the University of Warsaw, Poland. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles on elites and the Polish intelligentsia. He is the Head of Elitylab UW. Andrzej Waskiewicz is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warsaw, Poland, and the author of Strangers by Choice: An Asocial Philosophy of Life and The Idea of Political Representation and Its Paradoxes. Stanislaw Krawczyk is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Wroclaw, Poland. His recent work is primarily in higher education studies.

Recognition: An Insight into Past and Present Societies 1. Against a Spiritual Sanatorium: Hegel's Asymmetrical Conception of Recognition 2. Struggle and Shame: A Contribution to the Phenomenology of Recognition 3. The Bourgeoisie as Humanity or Inter-class 4. Micro-sociology of Social Recognition 5. Tactical Boundary-Setting in the Struggle for Recognition 6. Dignified Inequality: Recognition of Music Taste and Class Boundaries 7. Two Recognition Gaps: The Problem of the Distribution of Respect in Polish Society 8. Ancient Greek Aristocracy As a Historical Problem 9. A Gentleman's Leisure, or the Quest for Recognition: Aspiring to Aristocratic Ranks 10. Recognition and Secularisation: Memorialising Mass Exterminations in Western and Eastern Europe 11. The Problem of Race and Recognition in the Formation of Latin American Identity 12. Popular Authors in Search of Recognition: On the Polish Field of Science Fiction in the 1980s and 1990s