Theories of recognition and their heuristic validity for the analysis of citizenship and social movements in Brazil

Abstract

The article will bring three theories developed by scholars in the “North” since the 1950s: on citizenship, on social movements and on Fraser’s and Honneth’s theory of recognition, in order to verify their heuristic validity in understanding contemporary social issues in Brasil. It will be shown that they are of great importance to analyse Brazilian public sphere since the redemocratization of the country. From a historical sociology it will be pointed out the changes that have been taking place in the normative arrangements in what concerns not only the emergence of social movements, but also the questioning of the persistent inequalities on race relations. It will be claimed that the concept of human rights is a powerful tool to achieve a new citizenship and that the theory of recognition represents an important conceptual frame of analysis for the understanding new social movements