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Agency (mis)recognition in international violence: the case of French jihadism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Thomas Lindemann Open the ORCID record for Thomas Lindemann [Opens in a new window]
Thomas Lindemann*
Affiliation:
L'École polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay
*
*Corresponding author. Email: thomas.lindemann@uvsq.fr
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Abstract

This contribution introduces a reconceptualisation of misrecognition that stresses ‘creative agency’ (gift, work, etc.) as a condition of self-consciousness. Drawing on Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit, I argue that recognition struggles are often less motivated by the actors’ desire to have a special status than by the desire to make a ‘contribution’ to society, to ‘give’ something. The content of a socially valued contribution-gift (as per Marcel Mauss) varies from one society to another but it is linked to the very ability of actors to act on their ‘own’ and to shape their environment. Thus, subjects identifying with political units or social groups with little recognised agency, while imagining strong abilities to contribute to a given society, will easily feel slighted. It is impossible to be recognised as ‘subjects’ if one is denied in the ability to ‘contribute’ to a given society. I apply this perspective to the case of French jihadism, based on 13 interviews with prisoners in France suspected to belong to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. These individuals experience ‘individual’ agency denial inside the ‘national’ community, but also agency denial of ‘Muslim sovereignty’ outside.

Keywords

MisrecognitionHegelMaussSovereign Agency
Type
Research Article
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 44 , Special Issue 5: Special Issue on Misrecognition in World Politics: Revisiting Hegel , December 2018 , pp. 922 - 943
Copyright
© British International Studies Association 2018 

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