In the first two chapters, I will critique the way postcolonial theory usually presents the problem of postcolonisation. My main objective is to consider how postcolonial theory utilises two of the most influential organising concepts in modern and contemporary political theory. These are firstly negation, which privileges the possibility of critique and the potential for transformation in social analysis; and secondly recognition, which underlies various forms of ‘identity politics’ and claims for equality. I will trace the influence of these two concepts from their early expression in Hegel's philosophy, through Sartre and Fanon, to much current postcolonial theory. The discussion will particularly attend to the ways in which both recognition and negation are informed by the dialectical category of desire. In (post-)Hegelian philosophy, desire is negatively conceived: it signals a lack and a longing, which is understood to be the constitutive or constructive force of identity-formation occasioning recognition, but also and simultaneously the deconstructive or negating force that compels the transformation of existing reality. I will argue that this ambiguity results in conceptualisations of subjectivity, agency and process that are problematic, and finally unsuitable, as supports for postcolonial theory and for practical efforts at postcolonisation.