Respect Relationships in Diverse Societies

The paper aims to clarify what is both meant and entailed when the notion of respect is invoked in relation to the issues of diversity. A distinction is introduced between two types of respecting agents: the state and the citizen. The paper then distinguishes respect in relation to a commonality – in this case citizenship – from respect in relation to specific difference. The importance of respect in relation to a commonality is stressed, whilst the distinction between the state and the citizen as the respecting agent is used to raise questions about respect of difference. The latter part of the paper looks at Peter Jones’ compromise position of ‘mediated recognition,’ and suggests the possibility of ‘mediated accommodation.’ I am grateful for insightful comments and discussions with Tiziana Torresi and Geoffrey Brahm Levey, as well as Laura Valentini, Leah Bassel, Adam Swift, Stephen Cohen, Miriam Ronzoni, Kerah Gordon-Solomon, Jennifer Balint, Toby Ord, and to the useful feedback from the editors of Res Publica. I am also grateful to The Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, where part of this paper was written whilst visiting in the Department.