Now that we have described the practice of presence, this chapter will present the theory of presence as it was originally formulated (Baart, 2001) and its reception. This empirically grounded, care-ethical theory of presence explains why the practice of presence works and is valuable, and specifies what particular understanding of common humanity it implies.

A theory of practice with five subtheories

The case study of the neighbourhood chaplains in Utrecht was embedded in a multiple case study and accompanied by theoretical research. The whole endeavour was aimed at developing a ‘theory of practice’, that is, a theory derived from, developed for and belonging to a certain practice. It is derived from a practice, because it is based on a qualitative study of a practice, more particularly a professional practice. It was developed for a practice, because it is comprehensible, manageable and useful for the intended users, the practitioners. And it belongs to a practice, because it was developed in a research project in which the practitioners were positioned as co-researchers. Any theory of practice must include three components. First, an understanding of the logic and dynamic of the practice, including its rules of action and relationship management. Second, a normative framework, consisting of three normative moments: (a) evaluation criteria to identify good practices, (b) a description of the identity of the practice as a normative anchor point for the evaluation criteria, and (c) an implicit or explicit favoured reading of social reality. Third, a repertoire of action, consisting of tools for specific situations and an understanding of these tools and of how they are constructed. This last component of theories of practice resembles savoir faire, knowledge on how to do things, but it is never a recipe that must simply be followed in order to succeed. From the beginning, Baart sought to ethically position the presence theory, and he found a way to do this in 1995/ 96 in the political-ethical ethics of care (Baart, 1997).

In developing the theory of presence, Baart first proposed five subtheories, which ultimately provided the various components of the presence theory, while a subsequently developed sixth subtheory completed it.