Content area
Full Text
Seeing Others: How Recognition Works-and How It Can Heal a Divided World by Michèle Lamont New York: One Signal' Publishers/Atria Books, 2023. 272 pp. $28.00 (cloth), $14.99 (e-book).
During the 2023-2024 session of the Massachusetts state legislature, "An Act Relative to Celebrating and Teaching Native American Culture and History" was introduced to address "the lack of Indigenous curriculum in Massachusetts public schools" and "ensure that all children in the schools attain cultural competency in understanding Native history, cultures, and current issues" (MA Indigenous Legislative Agenda, n.d.). Proponents of the bill sought to promote greater respect for and understanding of Indigenous peoples within the state, a phenomenon that sociologist Michèle Lamont terms "recognition."
In her new book, Seeing Others: How Recognition Works-And How It Can Heal a Divided World, Lamont defines recognition as '"seeing others' and acknowledging people's existence and positive worth, actively making them visible and valued, reducing their marginalization, and openly integrating them into a group" (6). Concerned with deepening social and political divisions and driven by a desire "to broaden the circle of people who matter" (4), Lamont uses Seeing Others to better understand the ways people seek recognition for themselves and others within contemporary American society. Through more than 180 interviews with artists, activists, entertainers, entrepreneurs, college students, and a variety of other "change agents," Lamont finds that "various strategies for extending dignity and recognition to all groups, broadening our definitions of worth, celebrating our common humanity, and reducing stigma" are not only possible but critical to imagining a more just and equitable future (165).
Seeing Others is deeply rooted in sociological theories of culture and philosophical conceptions of recognition, which Lamont writes about in an accessible and engaging manner for a broad popular audience. Education researchers, policy makers, and practitioners will likely find an immediate connection with the opening chapter...