Recognition Struggles and Social Movements: Contested Identities, Agency and Power

Recognition Struggles and Social Movements is the first book to look comparatively and cross-nationally at the dynamic interplay between those fighting for a fairer division of economic resources and those struggling for recognition and respect of group differences. Combining theory and empirical research, it decodes the moral grammar of recognition into real struggles of collective actors who contest social hierarchies in arenas of power - from the Roma in Hungary to the Travesti prostitutes in Brazil, from abortion discourse in the US and Germany to the translation of feminist texts from East and West. Looking through multiple mirrors of gender, race/ethnic and sexual identities, the authors dramatize the competition and conflicts among groups vying for recognition. Written by prominent scholars across disciplinary and geographical borders, this book breaks new ground in social movement studies confronting issues of power and governance, authenticity, and boundary making.