Recognizing the Other: commitment to a democratic citizenship

Abstract

In our current social times, as in all historical times, permanent attention to the human condition must be paid. This study gathers a series of considerations regarding who the Other is, as well as about their recognition, mainly based on the opinions of academics, social workers, and professional carers, as well as on a number of chosen theoretical contributions, in the framework of my ongoing doctoral dissertation. The ideas presented here deal with the consideration of the human, its recognition, and mainly with the respect for the human as crucial for equality in those social contexts that aspire to it. My work is part of a qualitative-type research whose main aims are: analyzing and systematizing the conceptual core issues regarding the Other in what has to do with their recognition; describing and analyzing both professional and socio-educational experiences and praxes that promote that recognition; and producing a pedagogical proposal for a non-formal educational context. The analytical method of the information is contents analysis through categorization, developed through computer support tools (Atlas-ti.9).