ABSTRACT
Alongside his critical theory of social recognition, Axel Honneth develops a phenomenology of shame. He suggests that the harms of misrecognition are registered in feelings of shame, which in turn prompt struggles with, for and over recognition: struggles that he variously describes as emancipatory or progressive. In effect, Honneth suggests that shame is a resource for politics. The first part of the article examines the rhetorically compelling concepts of shame and suffering that structure Honneth’s critique of misrecognition. Drawing on the work of Agnes Heller, Martha Nussbaum and Toni Morrison, I offer an alternative analysis of the politics of shame, which has implications for Honneth’s analysis of emotions and selfhood. More importantly, however, this analysis suggests that Honneth does not explain how the struggle for recognition can become political. With recourse to Hannah Arendt, I argue that the politics of recognition rests on the politics of disclosure and acknowledgement.
