Being available to the other: building new forms of authority between adults and children

Abstract

This paper discusses the crisis of authority currently presented in a singular form. On the one hand, people complain the “lost authority” since it is created an image of border between child and adult as necessary and universal. On the other hand, we regret the loss of that authority because we have been unable to rebuild relations with the younger generation with another configuration of rights and duties of both parties. Starting from contributions from Arendt, Levinás, Benjamin, Jonas and Castro,and others, it is analyzed how this crisis of authority may lead to other possibilities of building a legitimate authority, taking into consideration that the authority exerted among adults must invest them with a reference locus and care, recognized by children, which allows them a greater participation in the affairs that surround them.