Abstract

In democratic welfare states, a growing number of immigrants form a permanent part of the citizenry but are not recognized as full members of the demos as they fail to meet the demands set for full political membership. For instance, states may demand work and economic self-support as proof of integration. This paper aims to show that the theory of recognition developed by G.W.F. Hegel could further the contemporary demos-debates concerning legitimate justifications of in- and exclusion substantially. Hegel articulated theories of recognition, freedom, and social recognition of great relevance for evaluating contemporary policies of integration such as demands of work and self-support as a prerequisite for naturalization. Normative political theoretical debates about policies of in- and exclusion of immigrants seldom confront whether work could be understood as a relevant driver and marker of integration. Much can be learned from Hegel’s attempt to describe what he took to be a realistic utopia of integrated citizens reproducing freedom through recognition. This analytical model asks whether policies of integration help linking individual and communal identities and types of freedom in ways that promote rather than undermine the freedom of the individuals and the community. The central motor of integration is here taken to be recognition once this takes institutional forms that promote both individual and communal freedom, while transforming both in manners that allow them to link.