Social Institutions and the Politics of Recognition

Tony Burns is professor of political theory in the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, and director of its Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ).

This book, the first of three volumes, links the politics of recognition to the evolution of Western social institutions. It challenges not only those who associate the politics of recognition with late-20th-century multiculturalism but also someone such as Craig Calhoun, who pushes its foundation back to Hegel’s civil society theory. Burns (Univ. of Nottingham, UK) sees evidence of premodern origins and makes it his task to trace how increased societal differentiation was wedded to developments in the significance of recognition. The book is organized into two parts. The first provides discussions of ancient Greece, Rome, and medieval Christianity. The second picks up the narrative in the late Middle Ages, beginning with “corporation theory,” in which figures such as Nicholas of Cusa and Jean Bodin loom large. The study concludes with a discussion of the Protestant Reformation, focusing on Martin Luther and John Calvin. This is high quality and engaging intellectual history. Burns succinctly summarizes his argument at the end, namely that the non-state institutions that developed in the premodern world prior to the emergence of civil society called for recognition and in so doing sowed the seeds of democratic decision-making. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty.

• IntroductionPart One: From Ancient Greece to the Middle AgesChapter One: The GreeksChapter Two: The RomansChapter Three: Medieval ChristianityPart Two: From the Late Middle Ages to the ReformationChapter Four: Corporation TheoryChapter Five: The ReformationConclusionBibliography