Recognition in International Relations ― Rethinking a Political Concept in a Global Context

Recognition is a basic human need. A prominent debate in Political Philosophy and Theory has highlighted the significance of this concept in daily life and in politics. Both individual and collective actors can experience misrecognition or non-recognition by significant other actors, which is often framed in terms of injustice and drives many social conflicts. However, recognition is not a panacea to all societal ills, and its multi-faceted effects in the international realm have, so far, been under-acknowledged.

In assembling contributions from International Relations, Political Theory and International Law, this volume advances interdisciplinary theoretical engagements and builds on empirical investigations into the struggles for recognition among global political subjects. Focusing on established states, unrecognised states and non-state actors, the contributors share the assumption that recognition is to be conceived of as a gradual process and that it is an ambiguous concept both in theory and political practice.

Christopher Daase is Professor of International Organisations at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, and head of the International Institutions research department at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt in Germany.

Caroline Fehl is a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. She has published various articles in the European Journal of International Relations and Review of International Studies.

Anna Geis is Professor of International Relations at the University of Magdeburg. Her previous publications include Democratic Wars: Looking at the Dark Side of Democratic Peace (co-edited with Lothar Brock and Harald Muller, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Georgios Kolliarakis is a Senior Researcher in Political Science at Goethe University Frankfurt. Among his previous publications are articles for the journal Sicherheit und Frieden (Security and Peace).