I think it is more complex than that.The problem with those crying about "Western" science being colonial, oppressive, against minorities and other cultures and obviously dominated by the white patriarchy (and so on), is that in their fury about science being a tool of political power, they really do believe it to be as a tool of political power and that it ought to be used as such. The agenda is that it has to be used...this time by them. — ssu
It seemed like the quotes in the op were related to science in academia as part of the education. I am not saying some of the complainees are not wanting to throw the whole thing out, but I think you are simplifying the issue.Where others would see the abuse of the term science or referring to science when the issue doesn't have anything to do with science just as a minor issue, just like Thomas Kuhn was annoyed when George Bush Sr used Kuhn's term "a new paradigm" to portray GOP tax policies, the people worried about science being "Western" see it differently. Those who genuinely believe in "Western" science having to be decolonized believe it's not about just the misuse of the scientific method, they believe science is inherently a political tool of power and not much else. — ssu
This is essentially an ad hom.Let's bring it down to what this is all about: getting new academic positions and openings. In the end "decolonizing science" will really apply to those who get the new 'decolonized' positions. Where others usually would treat job enrollment and equal opportunity as a separate issue from the actual science, that is not the case here. If you will have a "decolonized" science program, you think it will be run by your typical white males that you find in science programs today? — ssu
In both those countries you will find what in the West would be considered outside of science, inside the research, or overlapping with the science. It is openly assumed, by many, in those scientific communities that what in the West is consider the only epistemologically justifiable method of gaining knowledge, as one amongst a number. If you look at actual practices and the history of science in the West it is actually more diverse than these debates would lead one to think. But in the East this is more openly acknowledged., lets look at where the discussion of decolonization of science has taken place. Has it taken place in China? Because China would be the obvious place for this discussion to be taking place as it has a very long tradition of non-Western science. It isn't, at least that I'm aware of, because everybody there is, well, basically Chinese. And Japan we can dismiss by saying it hasn't been a colony (even if it was occupied after WW2). Even if Japanese surely aren't European and do have an own non-Western culture, they haven't at all been insisting that the science they do would be Japanese, not Western. — ssu
Really?This is essentially an ad hom. — Coben
And just where have I said that it's not diverse? It's the critics who actually don't understand the whole point of what just science is that make the claims of Science being some kind of a unified system.If you look at actual practices and the history of science in the West it is actually more diverse than these debates would lead one to think. — Coben
Those arguing for some kind of specific science, be it indigenous science, islamic science or whatever creationist humbug are politicizing themselves science. And they believe it's totally normal because they start from the idea that science is a tool of political power. — ssu
Those that want to make their own beliefs and ideologies more credible by resorting to proclaiming their beliefs being backed up by science or worse, argue that their beliefs being not beliefs but simply scientific facts are a minority. The vast majority do see the difference beliefs and empirical results of some objective scientific test. The vast majority of scientific research simply has no political or ideological agenda.Those who hold conflicting beliefs that they cherish and that define them do not want to change them because it is not necessary, rather they want to come up with scientific theories that have a similar predictive power but that are formulated in a way that doesn't conflict with their beliefs. — leo
Leo, that simply isn't science. What you are talking about is Physicalism.Modern science is imbued for instance with the belief of materialism, that deep down all we are is matter, that consciousness is a byproduct that doesn't cause anything, that we are like machines subjected to unchanging laws. — leo
The error people typically do here is that they focus on the practical applications, usually a commercial ones, that have been made (possible) thanks to something done in scientific research. — ssu
This is one of the pitfalls were modern science veer into, just like it to be seen just as a tool of political power. And that demarcation could be useful.Even from the purely academic perspective, research is now rarely funded unless it has a practical application. Maybe practicality is a better demarcation than methodology. — ernestm
Science has a racism problem. And it is not limited to scientific discoveries and their attendant usage. The scientific establishment, scientific education, and the metrics used to define scientific success have a racism problem as well.
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(See article)Teaching the Pythagorean Theorem or pi in geometry class perpetuates white privilege by giving the “perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans.”
That’s what Rochelle Gutierrez argues in her new anthology for math teachers, “Building Support for Scholarly Practices in Mathematics Methods.”
The University of Illinois professor says teachers must become more aware of the “politics that mathematics brings” to society. “On many levels, mathematics itself operates as Whiteness,” Ms. Gutierrez writes in the book, reported Campus Reform. “Who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics, who is capable in mathematics, and who is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as White.”
Mathematics also perpetuates white privilege because the economy places a high value on abstract reasoning.
White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions. Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics. - We see white supremacy culture show up in the mathematics classroom even as we carry out our professional responsibilities outlined in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP). Using CSTPas a framework, we see white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom can show up when:
• The focus is on getting the “right” answer.
• Independent practice is valued over teamwork or collaboration.
• “Real-world math” is valued over math in the real world.
• Students are tracked (into courses/pathways and within the classroom).
• Participation structures reinforce dominant ways of being.
• Teachers enculturated in the USA teach mathematics the way they learned it.
• Expectations are not met.
• Addressing mistakes.
• Teachers are teachers and students are learners.
Teachers should use this workbook to self-reflect on individual practices in the classroom and identify next steps in their antiracist journey as a math educator.
White supremacy culture shows up in math classrooms when...
The focus is on getting the “right” answer.
Instead...
The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so. Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict.
Of course, most math problems have correct answers, but sometimes there can be more than one way to interpret a problem, especially word problems, leading to more than one possible right answer.
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