Agency (mis)recognition in international violence: the case of French jihadism

Abstract

This contribution introduces a reconceptualisation of misrecognition that stresses ‘creative agency’ (gift, work, etc.) as a condition of self-consciousness. Drawing on Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit, I argue that recognition struggles are often less motivated by the actors’ desire to have a special status than by the desire to make a ‘contribution’ to society, to ‘give’ something. The content of a socially valued contribution-gift (as per Marcel Mauss) varies from one society to another but it is linked to the very ability of actors to act on their ‘own’ and to shape their environment. Thus, subjects identifying with political units or social groups with little recognised agency, while imagining strong abilities to contribute to a given society, will easily feel slighted. It is impossible to be recognised as ‘subjects’ if one is denied in the ability to ‘contribute’ to a given society. I apply this perspective to the case of French jihadism, based on 13 interviews with prisoners in France suspected to belong to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. These individuals experience ‘individual’ agency denial inside the ‘national’ community, but also agency denial of ‘Muslim sovereignty’ outside.

Agentic misrecognition in world politics

“…Axel Honneth has alluded to such expectations as a 'moral grammar', but he excludes from this moral grammar inflated self-presentations, such as the will of being confirmed by the other in a position of superiority. However, if we want to capture all experiences of misrecognition, we must include hubristic self-conceptions as well (Lindemann, 2011). Such hubristic self-conceptions can be built on perceptions of superiority, for example, the very visible hegemonic ideal that resides in patriarchal notions of masculinity as being mentally and physically superior.…”

Frustrated sovereigns: the agency that makes the world go around

“…Re-reading the Hegelian Marcel Mauss's writings on 'the gift', he argues that acts of giving are essential to the formation and maintenance of collective political agency and of a sense of belonging to a common political project. 83 Drawing on his first hand interviews of French jihadists, on the one hand, and members of peaceful and moderate Muslim groups, on the other, he captures the specific ways in which individuals who self-identify with political units or social groups that have little recognised agency feel slighted or non-recognised.…”

Precarious multiplicity: France, ‘foreign fighters’ and the containment of difference

“…For Moore (2015: 396), ‘The overwhelming body of work on foreign fighters and contemporary activist movements has focused on recruitment or mobilisation and occasionally the converse, disengagement from militant movements more generally’. 3 As such, the existing research concentrates on the reasons why ‘foreign fighters’ join insurgencies and terrorist organisations, focusing on the lives and experiences of the ‘foreign fighters’ themselves (Lindemann, 2018; Rostami et al, 2020; Verwimp, 2016), on the way they are recruited and mobilised (Holman, 2016a; Malet, 2013; Orozobekova, 2016; Wignell et al, 2017), on the origins of the phenomenon of the ‘Muslim foreign fighters’ (Hegghammer, 2010), and the impact of ‘foreign fighters’ on the conflicts in which they are involved (Bakke, 2014). Alternatively, scholars have examined the challenges posed by ‘foreign fighters’ returning to their country of origin (Jawaid, 2017; Pokalova, 2019) and the response of states and organisations such as the European Union to the phenomenon of the ‘foreign fighters’ (Bures, 2020; Holman, 2016b; Weill, 2019).…”