Teacherly gestures as an ontological dimension of politics: On the need of commonising in an age of pervasive privatization

Abstract

In this article we argue that enacting a public sphere requires teacherly gestures. Starting from the thesis that politics and education are two separate but interrelated spheres of human life, we investigate the ways these two spheres relate with each other, beyond a functional or instrumental understanding of their relation. Performing teacherly gestures by those who are gathered around some-thing is a necessary condition for making this particular matter into a common concern, i.e., making it public.

Keywords: commonising, teacherly gestures, democracy, public sphere.