From Orientalism to "Io Capitano": a Journey through Otherness in a Pedagogical Perspective
Sabina Leoncini, Freelance Researcher (Italy)
Abstract
Translated into thirty-six languages, debated and criticized, Said’s "Orientalism" is still the starting point of a critical reflection on otherness, reflecting also about all the “Io Capitano” that cross every day the Mediterranean see to reach Europe. If on the one hand with the myth of Europe, we can trace the origins of the European cultural identity, promoted by Erasmus, Horizon and other actions, on the other we build an increasingly marked border between "us" and "them", between East and West, between Europeans and non-EU citizens, between North and South. Through this contribution, retracing Foucault's studies, myths and stereotypes about the East and the West, voices of students and teachers involved in European projects, I would like to develop in the reader that sense of disorientation and confusion that is perceived when the researcher realizes that his entire training requires a change of perspective. From this crisis comes the "meridian" thought and the need for a reversal that leads to the emergence of a new pedagogy: Mediterranean, welcoming, inclusive, assertive, intercultural, without losing its scientific nature; to find a "meeting space" instead of building a border and an ever higher wall between Western identity and the rest of the world.
Keywords: Migration, Europe, Inclusive Education
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