Prompt two: “The others”


Taking the concepts of self and other, think about your community (your home, your college or university, some other community in which you are involved) and consider who belongs and who is an outsider. What group or groups do you experience primarily as plural others, rather than as individuals? How does that affect your perceptions of them? What are the social and practical effects of othering?

I would say the others can be people from other region than mine in France, or on an even larger scale, people from another nationality. Ideology wise, the others can be also right-wing (in my country) for me and also people that believe in different things than I do (mostly religion differences). My perception of them can be really different.

When it doesn’t implies possible political changes to what I believe is the “best” for the world, then I am more than willing to learn more and share ideas and culture with them. However, if the group is a threat to what I believe is right as an individual then I am scared of them. That doesn’t imply at all that I will not exchange with them, it just mean that I would be way more careful on what I say and also try to not engage with this “part” of them that is disturbing me. I believe in the fact that people are not only their nationality or religion or politic opinion etc…. That is why I personally just ignore the “group” in which they are part of and talk to the “individual” itself.

I think treating people as group is what can lead to important controversies. Having way too many examples in history on how human being can be, treating people as group can mostly lead to a really hostile dynamic and violence.


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