This article intervenes in the debate going on in philosophy and sociology regarding recognition and, in particular, the idea of a struggle of recognition. It seeks to make the meaning of the link between recognition and struggle explicit, as well as to discuss reasons for why theories of recognition could provide interesting insights into political theory. In a first step, it confronts Taylor’s, Fraser’s and Honneth’s contribution to the debate on recognition. In a second step, it introduces the distinction between agonistic and consensual struggles of recognition. In a third step, it describes the relationships between institutions and recognition and the various problems that an analysis of claims for recognition has to tackle with.