Pedagogies of resistance and coexistence. Rethinking education among migrations, rights and new citizenship

This contribution explores the role of education in deconstructing exclusionary narratives and promoting a culture of coexistence and social justice in an era marked by profound inequalities and geopolitical tensions. Through an analysis of European migrat ion policies and the Mediterranean as a symbolic border space, the essay proposes a critical reflection on the pedagogy of resistance, emphasising the urgency of educational practices capable of counteracting hate speech and fostering the recognition of the Other. In this sense, a pedagogy of transition aims at an education that promotes complex thinking, active citizenship and the adoption of decolonial epistemologies beyond the additive intercultural approach . The goal is to transform education into a tool for emancipation and social trans -formation, capable of rethinking borders not as barriers, but as spaces of relationship and encounter. The text addresses the issue of migration and borders, not only as a physical place of separation , but also as political and cultural constructs that shape identities, rights and belonging. The analysis highlights how the Mediterranean Sea , historically a space of encounters and exchanges, has today become a militarised border, the symbol of a securitarian management of human mobility. This scenario, besides producing exclusion and marginalisation, feeds public narratives that reinforce pre judices and stereotypes, making migrants highly vulnerable to a double form of violence: both material and symbolic. In the light of these critical issues, a pedagogical reflection is proposed on the need to rethink education as a tool of resistance and transformation. Indeed, the pedagogy of resistance emerges as a necessary response to the spread of hate speech and exclusionar y policies, with the aim of deconstructing discriminatory rhetoric and promoting a new inclusive imaginary. At the same time, transition pedagogy suggests an overcoming of traditional intercultural perspectives, focusing on an education capable of forming critical people , aware of power dynamics and global injustices. A further central aspect within the paper is the invitation to pursue and undertake a theoretical -practical perspective of a decolonial pedagogy, which questions cultural hierarchies and dominant epistemologies, valuing knowledge and narratives from marginalised subjectivities. In this sense, the border should no longer be understood as a barrier, but as a space of relationship and negotiation, where new forms of citizenship and coexistence can be built. The contribution closes with an opening towards educational responsibility in recognising the complexity of the present and in imagining educational models capable of promoting social justice, solidarity and intercultural dialogue. Education, th erefore, cannot be neutral, since it never has been . It must take up the challenge of building a society that does not limit itself to managing diversity but recognises it as a founding value for a fairer and more inclusive future.