Unlearn internal borders

Abstract

The lines and colors of the maps are based on an internal cartography. Frequently, this is printed in our minds more than on paper, although we know that many cartographies are always provisional or ephemeral, if not useless. Today, ethical positions of collectives “without borders” or “fusion” creations show that a less compartmentalized world is making its way. The walls crumble. Ethical goodwill and the arts are not alien, but they are not enough. It is urgent to “unlearn” many internalized mental borders, reflect on their construction in order to deconstruct them and move towards less segregating realities. Starting from Latin American resonances, lines of reflection are proposed around four axes: one, to analyze some mechanisms with which we build internal representations that translate political and social cartographies; revealing these mechanisms and their pitfalls can suggest more inclusive paths in the complex context of neoliberalism and globalization. Two, based on the experience and values of the original Latin American communities and centuries of miscegenation, basing what I call the bond strategy, in a perspective of communitarian democracy. Three, together with the macro perspective on social organization, promote micro, personal, local work, linked to education in the ethics of careful dialogue. Finally, illuminate the paths towards horizons of utopia through artistic languages, especially literature and contemporary arts. It closes with an educational example drawn from the collective experience –and personal for more than thirty-five years– with the Philosophy for/with Children (P4/wC) project. Currently, children and young people work in inclusive communities from different countries and contexts, showing a hopeful path in the construction of new citizenships for a new world.