Retrieving the Materialism in Axel Honneth's Theory Of

Chapter Seven Repressed Materiality: Retrieving the Materialism in Axel Honneth’s Theory of Recognition Jean-Philippe Deranty This paper attempts to accomplish two related tasks: a genealogical, exegetical one and a pro- grammatic one. The genealogical reconstruction of Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition serves the aim of making a few propositions for the continuation of the project of a critical theory of society. The basic premise of the paper is that Honneth’s theory of recognition is indeed a valid model from which to con- duct fruitful critical studies of contemporary society, but one that needs to be corrected, more specifically, one that needs to be corrected by reconnecting with its original background. The first task is guided by the purpose of highlighting the materialist background against which Axel Honneth’s ethics of recognition grew. By materialism I mean two different but germane perspectives: first, materialism in the sense of historical materialism. The underlying concern behind Honneth’s project has been to construct a valid reactu- alisation of historical materialism to answer 138 • Chapter Seven the conceptual and empirical challenges that this paradigm has had to face as a result of changed theoretical and social circumstances. The second sense of materialism is the one attached to the name of Ludwig Feuerbach. In his early writings, Honneth believed that historical materialism could overcome its conceptual shortcomings and the outdated aspect of some of its diagnoses by returning to its anthropological basis. In short, the beginnings of the theory of recognition lie in the assumption that historical materialism could be salvaged if it was re-grounded in anthropological materialism. In the course of its development, however, the ethics of recognition has tended to focus more and more on intersubjective interactions understood narrowly, and to repress the material mediations with which these interactions are implicated. My argument in conclusion will be that this was a misguided development and that retrieving these material mediations might allow a more substan- tive model of critical theory. I attempt to give an example of what such theory could look like with the paradigmatic case of work. I. Honneth’s Early Project: Critical Actualisation of Historical Materialism Honneth’s theory of recognition as it is presented in The Struggle for Recognition and in Redistribution or Recognition?, is generally ranked within the post- Hegelian literature in contemporary social and political philosophy.1 A lot of the time, especially in the American context, Honneth is mentioned in the same breath as Taylor, even though their readings and uses of Hegel are not compatible. This image of Honneth as a thinker influenced by Hegel is obvi- ously well justified since Hegel is, with Mead, the central inspiration in the book in which his mature model has been systematically presented. However, before the 1992 book, Hegel was hardly ever mentioned in Honneth’s writings; he was not an important reference. The central author before 1992 was in fact Karl Marx, and the central concern in Honneth’s early writings was the development of a materialist theory of society. In his first texts, Honneth, following the example of Habermas, was attempting to offer a reconstruction of historical materialism in light of changed theoretical and historical condi- tions. The theory of recognition that is presented in the texts of the 1990s is.

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