Peaceful Conflict Transformation*

We often wonder about our own identity in the different facets of our lives. Who are we? How do others see us? What are we like in terms of our family or jobs? We require an integral and fully constituted identity and for this, whether or not we are recognised seems to matter. At least, that is the argument put forward by the philosopher Axel Honneth, to whom I will refer in this paper. My goal in this paper1 is to study the theory of recogni-tion, especially as espoused by Axel Honneth, in order to determine its importance in peaceful conflict transforma-tion. My starting point is that the experience of mutual rec-ognition contributes in several positive ways to the peace-ful conflict transformation process. However, I believe it is necessary to clarify certain points of Honneth’s theory of mutual recognition. Consequently, this paper is divided into two sections: 1) Struggle for recognition and the shap-ing of human identity; and 2) Contributions of mutual rec-ognition to peaceful conflict transformation