Navigating the ‘Ideology of Eros’ in the Politics of Recognition Love and the Ethic of Non-Recognition

This article discusses Charles Taylor's analysis of the ‘politics of recognition’, which reveals that the major versions of the latter share an ideological conception of Eros as a binding, unifying force. Such striving for oneness is seen as key to forming harmonious, just communities and natio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) Vol. 71; no. 181; pp. 78 - 97
Main Author: Hurst, Andrea
Format: Journal Article
Language:Afrikaans
English
Published: New York Berghahn Books, Inc 01.12.2024
Subjects:
Acknowledgment
Ethics
Ideology
Politics
Recognition
ISSN:0040-5817, 1558-5816
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article discusses Charles Taylor's analysis of the ‘politics of recognition’, which reveals that the major versions of the latter share an ideological conception of Eros as a binding, unifying force. Such striving for oneness is seen as key to forming harmonious, just communities and nations, and ultimately global cohesion. I refer to this as the ‘ideology of Eros’. However, Taylor highlights an ironically divisive opposition concerning how to realise such oneness, based on incompatible foundational principles: ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’. Instead of a choice, Taylor opts for the demanding political task of ongoing negotiation between them. I augment Taylor's analysis by re-evaluating the figure of ‘non-recognition’ arising from Lacan's critique of the ‘ideology of Eros’, which is centred on Socrates’ encounter with Alcibiades in Plato's Symposium and to which he adds his notion of genuine love, which affirms an ethic of healthy ‘non-recognition’. I argue that this ethic supports the difficult political task that Taylor rightly calls for.
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ISSN:0040-5817
1558-5816
DOI:10.3167/th.2024.7118105