The heterogeneous impact of psychological discourse on (our view of) recognition

Abstract

Over the last century, psychological discourse ranks among the main cultural forces in Western societies. As such, it undoubtedly exerts considerable influence on how we express, demand, struggle for, and conceive of recognition. However, since psychology is far from being a monolithic discipline, said influence is exerted in non-univocal, sometimes contradictory ways. In this paper, I explore this heterogeneous impact by contrasting the idea of recognition underlying two popular psychological schools. On the one hand, psychoanalysis’ emphasis on trauma stresses our dependence on being recognized by others, vindicates the importance of communication, and contributes to redefining the status of victim. On the other hand, positive psychology’s advocacy for autonomous self-fulfillment seems to downsize the importance of recognition, and of the struggle for it, based on a statistical, morally-neutral approach.