Traces for a formative reflection on “passing”


“Passing” is realised in being able to be considered as belonging to a social and relational category different from the one imposed, generally, by birth. This passing, in situations of extreme racial abuse, is necessary to survive; in most cases, it is motivated by obtaining a better quality of life, recognition of one's rights and a lower risk of persecution. “Passing” is thus declined as a complex response to deep-rooted injustices, as a painful practice that denounces, even implicitly, the possible consequences of crystallising situations of racism and oppressiveness. “Passing” expresses the porosity of the boundaries between personal deception and social illusion, it manifests the vacuity of identity boundaries that experience violent forms of belonging. It tells of the pains that are often hidden through the power to “pretend”, to “pass for”. This faculty is also typical of the educational process, where it is not necessarily synonymous with untruth, but an opportunity to bring out new points of view, new worlds.