Not Entitled to Talk: (Mis)recognition, Inequality and Social Activism of Young Muslims

Hilary Pilkington,Necla Acik

doi:10.1177/0038038519867630

Abstract

This article considers the relationship between (mis)recognition, inequality and social activism through the lens of young Muslims’ response to their positioning as ‘suspect communities’. It draws on qualitative empirical research to suggest that the institutionalisation of misrecognition, including through the preventative (‘Prevent’) arm of UK counter-terrorism strategy, may mobilise young Muslims to resist ‘suspect’ status and make claims to the right to equal esteem. This forms part of the motivation towards social activism that mitigates the harm inflicted by misrecognition. However, the particular historical and cultural form of the institutionalisation of misrecognition, which renders ‘preventing Prevent’ a priority for young Muslims, may compound their status subordination. Drawing on critiques of the politics of recognition, and contextualising findings in debates on racism, anti-Muslim attitudes and societal securitisation, the article concludes that fighting misrecognition with recognition politics mis-places the role of power in subject formation and constrains young Muslims’ political agency.

Highlights

Charles Taylor’s (1994) seminal essay on ‘The politics of recognition’ highlighted the importance of the struggle for recognition of minority or subaltern groups through the Sociology 54(1)‘politics of multiculturalism’
This article contributes rather to an emergent literature on particular struggles for recognition in the specific contexts in which they take place to produce more nuanced accounts of the relationship betweenrecognition, identity and political agency (Martineau, 2012: 173; Meer et al, 2012: 133). It draws on critical engagements with theories ofrecognition to demonstrate a particular institutionalisation of misrecognition (Fraser, 2008) through the enactment of the Prevent strand of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST), which has worked to position Muslims as ‘suspect communities’ (Choudhury and Fenwick, 2011; Kapoor, 2018; Kundnani, 2014; McGhee, 2008)
Drawing on the critique of recognition politics by Fraser (2008: 84–85), we argue, these constraints arise from the institutionalisation of misrecognition in patterns of cultural value and socio-economic inequalities, which work in tandem to prevent participatory parity

Summary

Introduction

Charles Taylor’s (1994) seminal essay on ‘The politics of recognition’ highlighted the importance of the struggle for recognition of minority or subaltern groups through the Sociology 54(1)‘politics of multiculturalism’. Keywords counter-terrorism policy, inequality, misrecognition, politics of recognition, suspect communities, young Muslims, youth activism Drawing on a qualitative study of socially active young Muslims in the UK, it suggests that the securitisation of society – epitomised for research participants by the ‘Prevent agenda’ – creates an interpretive framework that identifies misrecognition at the group level and impels social activism (Honneth, 1995).

Results

Conclusion