Abstract
If justice means equal participation and inclusion, as authors such as Axel Honneth or Nancy Fraser have argued, the question still remains: inclusion in what, and of whom? This question has not been investigated with sufficient attention. Drawing on the example of the experience of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, I address this issue by distinguishing different meanings of equality which correspond to different types of political struggles. In so doing, I re-examine Honneth’s claim that the critical theory of recognition has no room for cultural groups as referents of a potential ‘fourth principle of recognition’ beyond legal equality, the merit principle, and love. It is argued that Honneth’s critique of collective rights neglects crucial differences between the types of groups that exist in modern states, and between the different kinds of struggles for equality waged by those groups.
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Notes
Note that in this article I cover only Honneth’s version of recognition theory without discussing the works of authors such as James Tully, Will Kymlicka, Kwame Anthony Appiah and many others who have also contributed to this evolving debate.
For alternative voices in the history of Jewish nationalism that defended the creation of a nation-state of ‘Israelis’ including the non-Jewish native inhabitants of Mandate Palestine, see Gans (2008, pp. 13–14).
In early 2010, for example, the Israeli High Court of Justice has granted asylum to a young Arab homosexual from the West Bank town of Nablus, who was persecuted and mistreated by the authorities of his hometown (Zarchin 2010).
In the 2008 municipal elections the voter turnout of the Arab residents of East Jerusalem was only 1.7%.
For empirical evidence, see the websites of Israeli advocacy groups like Ir Amim or Bimkom.
This point has been emphasized, contra Honneth, by Tully (2004; and personal communication).
On the replacement of the friend/foe opposition by the victim/perpetrator opposition in Critical Theory, see Heins (2011).
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Heins, V. Three Meanings of Equality: The ‘Arab Problem’ in Israel. Res Publica 18, 79–91 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-012-9187-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-012-9187-1