Universidad Católica de Temuco – Chile
1. The Expulsion
In a historic first, a researcher was expelled from the International Congress on
Mathematical Education-ICME-without the opportunity for an allegation or defense.
It is notable that the first person to be expelled from a scientific space dedicated
to the dissemination of knowledge of mathematics (education) was a non-white woman
from the Global South. This historical fact raises questions about the nature of mathematics
(education) as a scientific field of knowledge production. It has been argued that
mathematics (education) is structured along gender (Leyva, 2017) and racial lines
(Martin, 2012). Beyond this, what precisely does this expulsion tell us about mathematics
(education) as a scientific field of knowledge production?
McKittrick (2006) calls “geographies of domination” spaces that we not only produce, but that produce certain subjectivities, and in which the interrelations between domination and corporealities are revealed. If we acknowledge that mathematics (education), as a white institutional space (Battey & Leyva, 2016) constitutes one of such geographies of domination, and that the “the moment when historically excluded corporealities [in normative spaces] are included is incredibly revealing” (Puwar, 2004, p. 5), what does the expulsion of a non-white woman form the global south reveal us about the role and place of Black women and women of color in mathematics as a scientific field? As Puwar (2006) argues,
Bodies do not simply move through spaces but constitute and are constituted by them. Thus, it is possible to see how both the space and the normative bodies of a specific space can become disrupted by the arrival of Black and Asian bodies in occupations which are not historically and conceptually marked out as their natural domain. (p. 32)
2. The Somatic Norm
In my plenary talk I will address the two questions previously posed. First, to unpack such role and place, I use Lozano’s (2014) notion of mujeresnegras to highlight the impossibility of dissociating the gendered-racialized experiences of Black women in mathematics (education). From a pragmatic perspective, Ferreirós (2024) posits that an analysis of the factors that facilitate the construction of mathematical knowledge necessitates the consideration of, among other factors, the community of practitioners as the mathematical practices are inextricably linked to the practitioners who engage in them. What positions are available to Black women in this community? If we adopt, as Mills (2017) does, an epistemic perspective that incorporates the concepts of domination, ideology, hegemony, and exploitation—among others—in the production of knowledge, it is impossible to ignore how mathematical practices take place in and reproduce a space constructed along a gendered-racial line, in which ontologically im/possible corporealities are, in turn, constructed.
Second, I also use Puwar’s (2004) notion of somatic norm to argue that las mujeresnegras are corporealities “out of place” in mathematics (education). Mathematics is both a consequence of interpersonal interactions and a sociocultural-political practice that exists across a variety of interconnected contexts, reproducing aspects of the larger society of which it is a part (Martin et al., 2024). However, in historical terms mathematics has been exclusively associated with reason and rationality. Kant posited that mathematics represents the epitome of rational knowledge. This is the same Kant (cited in Mills, 2017, p. 96) who asserted that:
The race of Negroes, one could say, is completely the opposite of the Americans; they are full of affect and passion, very talkative and vain. They can be educated but only as servants (slaves), that is, they allow themselves to be trained. They have many motivatings forces, are also sensitive, are afraid of blows and do much out of sense of honor a state of civilization into a state of savagery of his own volition.
and that:
The female is declared to be civilly incapable at all ages, with the husband serving
as her natural curator. Despite the female's natural capacity to represent herself,
it is deemed unsuitable for her sex to engage in warfare. Consequently, she is unable
to defend her rights or conduct civil business independently, requiring the assistance
of a representative. (ApH, Ak. VII 209).
Thus, mathematics (education) functions as a gendered-racialized project that feeds on and enables the development of other political projects (e.g., capitalism, neoliberalism, militarism, white supremacy, xenophobia, etc.). The mujeresnegras’ body emerges as a space that must be subjected to disciplinary and civilizing processes. Mathematics and ICME are social spaces that have been designated as neutral, accessible to anyone who wishes to participate. The invitation to join these spaces is extended with the promise of inclusion and representation: “Come and be counted,” “More women in mathematics.” However, as the expulsion illustrates, both spaces are reserved for certain corporealities marked by masculinity and whiteness, and in this sense, mujeresnegras are out of place in mathematics (education). Despite discourses and policies of inclusion, subtle means of exclusion continue to operate through the designation of the somatic norm. I will illustrate this with data of my research in Chilean and Colombian mathematics classrooms.
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