Social Psychology of Respect: Implications for Delegitimization and Reconciliation

In both the popular press and modern identity politics, societal groups are clamoring for respect, o+ en in lieu of economic redistribution (see, for example, Fraser, 1995; Honneth, 1995, 2001; Miller, 1993; Taylor, 1994), and individual citizens are calling for respect in civil discourse (e.g., Carter, 1998). “History echoes with passionate pleas for justice and charity, but in our times, increasingly, what we hear are demands for respect” (Hill, 2000, p. 59). Political leaders around the world recognize its importance when meeting with the opposition, and reconciliation is o+ en premised on its presence. Respect has become a valuable political and economic resource. D us, Iran’s reform-minded past President Khatami noted, “D e G rst requisite to any dialogue is the mutual respect between two parties” (Landler, 2004, p. A5). Similarly, two university presidents—one Palestinian and the other Israeli—jointly maintained “it is through cooperation based on mutual respect, rather than boycotts or discrimination, that our common goals can be achieved” (Cowell, 2005, p. A9). And in attempting to improve relations with disgruntled faculty, Lawrence Summers, Harvard’s past president, promised to temper his style in ways that paid them greater respect (Rimer & Healy, 2005). In his classic book, A eory of Justice (1971), political philosopher John Rawls claims that respect is a primary good—perhaps the primary good—in