The concept of recognition has become a key term in ethics today and has increasingly gained significance in social and educational science discourse. Recognition is often regarded as a normative guideline for evaluating (educational) relationships and practices. Against this backdrop, the work embarks on an exploration of the category of recognition. By reconstructing various concepts of recognition, it elaborates on the meanings and dimensions of 'recognition' and relates them to social and educational scientific issues. The studies examine the scope of each understanding of recognition and develop an analytically refined understanding of recognition, drawing on power and alterity theoretical positions, which simultaneously opens up new perspectives on both ethical and educational content.