History of Ethnomathematics: Recent Developments

Abstract

Ethnomathematics (EM) emerged not only as a challenge to eurocentrism (Powell & Frankenstein, Ethnomathematics: Challenging eurocentrism in mathematics education, SUNY Press, 1997), but also as a challenge to mathematics knowledge itself; ethnomathematics questions how histories pre-suppose what counts as mathematics knowledge, and challenges the dominant paradigm of history and its hubris in classifying and prioritizing knowledge. For Ubi D’Ambrosio, considered by many as the intellectual father of EM, EM exists at the confluence of the history of mathematics and cultural anthropology, going beyond the dichotomy of western (academic) and non-western (practical) mathematics. In this chapter we explore how the EM perspective influences our view of the history of mathematics, placing it in the broader context of history as a discipline, as a western construction, focusing on power relationships that are embedded in the uses of history. This context is central to EM itself, which identifies issues of colonization and related concerns for epistemology, education, and related concerns about equity and globalization. We will also explore the history of EM as it is relevant to thinking about the role of history in the teaching of mathematics; EM had its origins in colonial practices of privileging and legislating knowledge according to Western criteria. A critical perspective on the history of EM leads to our proposal for a “critical ethnomathematics” perspective that can address current problems of education and of the world as a whole.