ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE WORLD

Panel 04: Multimathemacy: an anthropology of mathematical literacy

Paper Title:

Anthropology of Space and the Urban Boundaries: a study centred in the communitarian education.

Authors:

Mônica Mesquita – Lisbon University/ Institute of Education.

Filipa Ramalhete – Autonomous University of Lisbon / Department of Architecture.

Ana Paula Caetano – Lisbon University / Institute of Education.

Short Abstract: (300 characters)

A study of urban spaces where the presence of the invisible beings and the gap of act reveal themselves as a transverse wave has been requiring an interdisciplinar research on the concept of space. The proposal is to share fieldwork experiences in two invisible communities (Portugal) following the Curriculum Trivium.

Abstract: (250 words)

The research project Urban Boundaries was designed to attend needs from three different cultural groups and includes members of each group. The academic group focuses on the necessity of an emancipatory educational policy while the Bairro group is centred on the urge of having water supply in their territory and the Fishing group wishes strengthening their professional and social voice.

Therefore, Urban Boundaries focus is on diversity: actors with different social, geographic, history, cultural, and school backgrounds. In face of this diversity, the structure of this project is based on a flexible sketch, where different voices can be heard, having as a common stage the fieldwork data collected in two urban communities.

We will explore on this paper, looking to the Concept of Act from Slavoj Zizek, the encounter of these communities, which two of them (Bairro and Fishing) have as main characteristic the presence of the cultural groups that are materially and symbolically marginalized in the urban central area, and the mathematical literacy of them as a tool to work the situcionalidade of these communities, on Paulo Freire’ sense.

The Curriculum Trivium, developed by Ubiratan D’Ambrosio, appears on this project as category of the dialogue among the three involved groups and as category of analysis in the understanding, recognition, and empowerment of the communitarian educational processes as tools of survival.