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“Alientity” is a term coined in opposition to “identity.” Whereas identities are the object of representations that are expressed in the course of symbolic exchanges, discourses and communication, “alientity” refers to what cannot be the object of representations, what is outside the public sphere and outside the ordinary spheres of language and symbolic practice. Therefore, “alientity” could be defined as what is not communicable, what cannot be represented, what is outside the public sphere. Communication is based on recognition of meaning that is itself based on a specular recognition of identities, while the world of alientity is peopled by the absence of recognition and the lack of any common language. By fragmenting the social sphere into ghettos and separate identities, social discrimination breaks up the necessity of equality in democracy and prevents communication, which is the precondition for establishing a shared identity and citizenship.