In his most recent book The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts, Axel Honneth argues for a new conception of critical social theory by focusing on personal and social struggles for recognition. By outlining three different aspects of ontogenetic development, and by explicating the three structures of relation-to-self that each ideally results in, Honneth hopes to refocus critical social theory by grounding the theoretical explanation and normative justification of intramundane social struggles for recognition upon an understanding of personal identity formation. In this paper, I would like to critically examine one aspect of Honneth's project, namely, his contention that a 'formal conception of ethical life' can function as the normative standpoint from which to judge progressive and pathological forms of social organization. In brief, this 'formal conception of ethical life' is intended to delineate 'the entirety of intersubjective conditions that can be shown to serve as necessary preconditions for individual self-realization' (Honneth, 1995b: 173).The lynchpin of Honneth's theory is his account of the structural interconnection between (1) the three stages of individual identity development, (2) the three forms of intersubjective recognition required for each stage, and (3) the forms of social organization needed as preconditions for the healthy, undistorted self-realization of that society's members. This structural interconnection then provides a basis for explaining processes of social change -explicating both the impulse for expanded recognition and the normative claims raised in social struggles for individual and group recognition.
In this book, Christopher F. Zurn shows why a normative theory of deliberative democratic constitutionalism yields the best understanding of the legitimacy of constitutional review. He further argues that this function should be institutionalized in a complex, multi-location structure including not only independent constitutional courts but also legislative and executive self-review that would enable interbranch constitutional dialogue and constitutional amendment through deliberative civic constitutional forums. Drawing on sustained critical analyses of diverse pluralist and deliberative democratic arguments concerning the legitimacy of judicial review, Zurn concludes that constitutional review is necessary to ensure the procedural requirements for legitimate democratic self-rule through deliberative cooperation. Claiming that pure normative theory is not sufficient to settle issues of institutional design, Zurn draws on empirical and comparative research to propose reformed institutions of constitutional review that encourage the development of fundamental law as an ongoing project of democratic deliberation and decision.
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