Living in the presence of others: towards a reconfiguration of space, asylum and inclusion.

One of the core characteristics of inclusionary discourses and practices is their emphasis on living in the presence of others. Despite this self-evident character, the question of what is understood by living in the presence of others only sporadically has been the object of critical inquiry. By turning ourselves towards Stengers’ conceptual figure of the idiot and the work of a rather unknown French
educator Fernand Deligny, we – opposed to what contemporary scholars and professionals tend to think – will argue that space still occupies an important role in inclusive discourses and practices. Deligny’s remarkable reappraisal of the word ‘asylum’ in particular seems fruitful in order to think the relations between space, inclusion and living in the presence of others anew. In line with Stengers’ idiot, Deligny’s polishing of the word ‘asylum’ leads to an alternative presentation of inclusion as something which has to do with creating (1) spatial interstices in one’s own thinking while living in the presence of others, and (2) places where the other can find refuge against the dominant languages of divergent contemporary professionals and disciplines.