Mathematx as a Way of Being: Rethinking Our Relationships With Land and Water

• In Event: 15.048 - Is Another Mathematics Possible? Mathematics and the Living World

Abstract

Scientists and the public at large seem to agree that science needs to change if we are to better support our planet. However, it is not clear that mathematicians or mathematics educators see a direct connection between mathematics and a planetary crisis. Mathematics is often in the service of warfare and economics (Author, 2013; BooB-Bavnbek & Hoyrup, 2003; O'Neil, 2016). With an emphasis on quantifying, categorizing, and reducing complex and multi-layered relationships between persons to mere abstractions, mathematics often supports a fallacy that modeling, big data, and software can solve anything. The overarching goal in mathematics seems to be on offering and affirming a universal view of the world (Gleiser, 2015), as is evident in the search for string theory. Moreover, the teaching and learning of mathematics continues to support an agenda of White supremacist capitalist patriarchy and settler colonialism by focusing on Western rationality, logic, and abstraction (Hottinger, 2016; Leyva, 2017; Martin, 2013, 2015; Stinson, 2013; Walkerdine, 1994).
Elsewhere (Author, 2017), I argued that to heal the relationship between humans, mathematics, and the planet, we need to consider the knowledges of Indigenous peoples who have historically lived in harmony with lands and waters (Cajete, 2000; Deloria, 1979; González, 2001; Kimmerer, 2013; Simpson, 2017; Tallbear, 2013; Watson-Verran & Turnbull, 1995). I suggested that in place of whitestream/Western mathematics (Aikenhead, 2017; Bishop, 1990), we need a form of mathematics that respects Indigenous worldviews, including: 1) In Lak'ech-the Mayan concept for acknowledging we are all connected, that we recognize others in us and us in others (Cajete, 1999; Paredez, 1964), 2) Nepantla-Nahua metaphysics that values multiplicity, uncertainty, and movement (Anzaldúa, 2000; Anzaldúa & Keating, 2002), and 3) reciprocity-our responsibility to give back to others (Kimmerer, 2013). This form of mathematics seeks, acknowledges, and creates patterns that solve problems and offer joy-something I refer to as mathematx (Author, 2017). By including other-than-human persons, mathematx offers both a new way of practicing mathematics and new possible forms of mathematics. Doing so can accommodate multiple epistemologies and address our relationships with others, including humans and non-humans (e.g., animals, plants, land, bodies of water). This is different from ethnomathematics (Rosa & Orey, 2016; Powell & Frankenstein, 1997) and significant to the field because humans are no longer centered. In this paper, I survey the literature on philosophy of mathematics, history of mathematics, ethnomathematics (including Western mathematics), postcolonial theory, teaching and learning mathematics, and Indigenous knowledge in order to build an argument about new ways for practicing mathematics. I extend previous work by presenting some of the ways in which mathematx might be fostered in education. Recognizing that real change cannot be made from within the education system, I argue for out-of-school or community school spaces, where children learn new patterns to reattach to land and water. A vision of mathematx is necessary so that we might move towards future perspectives on education that can offer healing potential for our planet.

Author

• Rochelle Gutierrez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign