The Cartoon Controversy as a Case of Multicultural Recognition

 

The paper considers what ‘recognition' might mean in theory and which policies would in practice qualify as policies of recognition in relation to multicultural conflicts such as the ‘cartoon controversy' sparked by the publication of drawings of the Prophet Mohammad in the Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The paper provides a general theoretical account of recognition as a strictly political concept, including distinctions between different conceptions hereof, and asks whether the cartoon controversy can be described in these terms and what the relevant meaning of recognition might then be. Distinctions are made between different acts of recognition, directed at different objects, and offered and received by different subjects. The paper also considers what practical forms policies of recognition might take in a case like the cartoon controversy.