28 Introduction of intersubjectivity. Subjectification, as I want to use and develop the concept in the remainder of this thesis, intends for the free and deliberate subjection of one’s self to the justified needs of others (16). Intersubjectivity expresses how connectivity on a deeper level of understanding fosters one’s personal flourishing, as will be explained in Chapter 1 more thoroughly. It is interesting that, in sociological studies, the ideas of culture and interculturality have, over the past few decades, led to several types of holistic approaches that care especially about this intersubjectivity. Magni-Berton (2008) spoke of a ‘holisme bourdieusien’, referring to the French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu, famous for his rebuttal of the idea that the society and the individual are two different levels of description. What Bourdieu proposed, is ‘en un mot’, concluded Magni-Berton (2008), ‘de rejeter la distinction entre micro- et macrosociologie’ (p. 305). One could say that Bourdieu sought a healing of the connection between the micro-sociology of the individual and the homogeneous family, on the one hand, and the macro-sociology of broader society, on the other hand. This reflects the central task of school and education in terms of the classical function of school referred to above. Van der Stoep (2005) used Bourdieu’s critique of society as his starting point to evaluate the political philosophy of multiculturalism. He did so because it places a strong emphasis on the societal conditions that must be met to enable citizens to develop an open and tolerant attitude. With his holistic approach, Bourdieu occupied an interesting position in relation to, on the one hand, universalists who focus solely on modern democratic individual rights and, on the other hand, multiculturalists who mainly focus on integration while maintaining the individual’s own (cultural) identity (van der Stoep, 2005). Real tolerance implies that every citizen should have equal freedom and means to form his or her own conception of the good life, without elevating any specific political or life conviction to the status of a public norm. Citizens have to be educated and equipped to independently embrace or reject the conceptions and convictions they receive in their home situations (van der Stoep, 2005, pp. 233–234). This accords, I contend, with what Biesta (2013) called the beautiful risk of education—an idea that he combined with the notion that education should not only aim at qualification and socialisation but also at subjectification: learning to be a subject in the bigger world (Biesta, 2022). This is what citizenship formation should focus on. To approach education as an ongoing invitation to students to take their own stand in the classroom, the school community, the social sphere and the natural world entails the features of a holistic answer to 16 A more detailed description of subjectification will follow at the end of Chapter 1.2.
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