PME-NA

Utopia(s): A Queer Futurity of Mathematics Education Research

• In Event: Utopia(s): A Queer Futurity of Mathematics Education Research

Description

Mathematics education research (MER) is in a continual state of becoming, shaped by the theories, methodologies, and values researchers bring to the field. This paper explores MER’s transformative potential through the lens of queer futurity, drawing on the utopian theorizing of José Esteban Muñoz and Ernst Bloch. It argues that the field must resist the reproduction of normative academic structures and instead engage in world-making that envisions alternative futures for mathematics education. By operationalizing queer temporality, this work critiques the dominant logics of MER—those that prioritize linear progression, rigid disciplinary boundaries, and assimilationist tendencies—while advocating for an expansive, inclusive, and ethically grounded reimagining of the field. This paper further examines how utopian thinking can inform MER’s publication practices, conference structures, and pedagogical approaches to resist the constraints of capitalist, straight time. Ultimately, this work calls for an MER that embraces the possibility of a radically different future—one that prioritizes joy, humanization, and the disruption of inherited disciplinary norms.

Author

• Christopher Dubbs, East Stroudsburg University