Identity and the psychological consequences of recognition

This chapter, “Identity and the psychological consequences of recognition,” offers an overview of contemporary ideas about identity and authenticity with a focus on the work of Charles Taylor. It addresses the problem of essentialism as it applies to identity and the self, and discusses the relation between social and individual identity. It examines the motivation underlying the struggle for recognition, and the distinction between genuine and ideological recognition. The chapter also explores the psychological consequences of recognition and misrecognition through a critical review of key writings by Axel Honneth. It continues the overall aim of the second part of this book, which is to construct a theory for the politics of identity and recognition that can enable us to respond to Mad activism’s demand for recognition.