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Profile photo of Lisa Strömbom

Lisa Strömbom

Researcher

Profile photo of Lisa Strömbom

Agonistic Recognition as a Remedy for Identity Backlash : Insights from Israel and Turkey

Author

  • Lisa Strömbom
  • Bahar Rumelili

Summary, in English

While an extensive part of the conflict transformation literature stresses the importance of transforming the identities of conflict parties through recognition, it fails to recognise the propensity of such transformations to generate ontological insecurity and dissonance, and consequently a possible backlash towards antagonistic identities. Drawing on agonistic thought, we develop a conception of agonistic recognition, premised on non-finalism, pluralist multilogue and disaggregated recognition. We suggest that these elements of agonistic recognition may guard against the development of ontological insecurity and dissonance in recognition processes. We comparatively analyse the connections and tensions between recognition, ontological insecurity/dissonance and identity backlash experienced during the transformation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the context of the Oslo Peace Process in the 1990s and Turkey’s ‘rapprochement’ with Greece in the context of its EU accession process in the 2000s. We also assess the presence of the elements of agonistic recognition in these two conflict transformation processes. Our contribution constitutes an important step towards the specification of agonistic peace in terms of its underlying recognition processes and in developing the empirical study of agonistic elements in actual conflict transformation processes.

Department/s

  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • Department of Political Science
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World

Publishing year

2022

Language

English

Pages

1361-1379

Publication/Series

Third World Quarterly

Volume

43

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • Political Science

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1360-2241