Abstract
This essay addresses Katherine Richardson Bruna’s paper: Mexican Immigrant Transnational Social Capital and Class Transformation: Examining the Role of Peer Mediation in Insurgent Science, through five main points. First, I offer a comparison between the traditional analysis of classism in Latin America and Richardson Bruna’s call for a class-first analysis in the North American social sciences where there has been a tendency to obviate the specific examination of class relations and class issues. Secondly, I discuss that a class-first analysis solely cannot suffice to depict the complex dimensions in the relations of schools and society. Thus, I suggest a continuum in the class-first analysis. Third, I argue that social constructions surrounding issues of language, ethnicity, and gender necessarily intersect with issues of class and that, in fact, those other constructions offer compatible epistemologies that aid in representing the complexity of social and institutional practices in the capitalist society. Richardson Bruna’s analysis of Augusto’s interactions with his teacher and peers in the science class provides a fourth point of discussion in this essay. As a final point in my response I discuss Richardson Bruna’s idea of making accessible class-first analysis knowledge to educators and especially to science teachers.
Resumen
Este ensayo es una respuesta dada mediante cinco puntos al manuscrito de Katherine Richardson Bruna: Mexican Immigrant Transnational Social Capital and Class Transformation: Examining the Role of Peer Mediation in Insurgent Science. Primero ofrezco una comparación entre el análisis tradicional latinoamericano sobre clasismo y la propuesta de Richardson Bruna de un primer análisis de clase en las ciencias sociales norteamericanas donde la tendencia ha sido obviar el examen específico de las relaciones y temas de clase. En segundo lugar comento que un primer análisis de clase no constituye una representación suficiente de la complejidad de las relaciones entre escuela y sociedad. Tercero, argumento que las construcciones sociales de lenguaje, etnicidad y género necesariamente se intersecan con las de clase y que, de hecho, esas construcciones ofrecen epistemologías compatibles que asisten en las representaciones de las prácticas sociales e institucionales en la sociedad capitalista. El análisis de Richardson Bruna sobre las interacciones de Augusto con su maestra y compañeros en la clase de ciencia constituyen el cuarto punto de discusión en este ensayo. Como punto final comento sobre la idea del autor de hacer accesible el conocimiento sobre el primer análisis de clase a educadores y especialmente a maestros de ciencia.
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Valdiviezo, L.A. Class-first analysis in a continuum: an approach to the complexities of schools, society, and insurgent science. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 5, 435–445 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-009-9242-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-009-9242-1