Asphalt Children and City Streets
A Life, a City, and a Case Study of History, Culture, and Ethnomathematics in Sao Paulo

THIS WORK EXPLORES THE URBAN EXPERIENCES OF STREET CHILDREN IN SAO PAULO,

BRAZIL THROUGH THE MATHEMATICAL EPISTEMIC REGIMES AT THE CORE OF THEIR

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES. WE ALSO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE SITUATION OF STREET

CHILDREN ACROSS TIME, SPACE, CULTURE, AND HISTORY. OUR GOAL IS TO

RECOGNIZE, UNDERSTAND, AND VALIDATE FORMS OF MATHEMATICS CONSTRUCTED AND

USED OUTSIDE OF THE ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS OF MATHEMATICAL PRODUCTION.

WE BASE OUR ANALYSIS ON "THE MATHEMATICAL IMAGINATION", WHICH DRAWS

TOGETHER SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM AND ETHNOMATHEMATICS. THEORETICALLY, WE

DRAW HEAVILY ON THE DURKHEIMIAN TRADITION IN SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY.

WE FOCUS ON A FORM OF PRACTICE THAT LINKS THE FORMAL AND THE INFORMAL IN

ORDER TO REALIZE THE FULL POWER OF MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AS A SOCIAL

THING (IN DURKHEIM'S SENSE), A PRODUCT OF THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

THAT EXPRESSES COLLECTIVE REALITIES AND A CATEGORY OF KNOWLEDGE PRESENT

IN EVERY CULTURE. THIS IS AS TRUE FOR MATHEMATICS AT THE MARGINS AS IT IS

FOR PROFESSIONAL MATHEMATICS. OUR WORK CONTRIBUTES TO AN EMERGING

POLITICAL MANIFESTO OF THE MARGINAL THAT DEMONSTRATES THE SOCIAL

REALITIES AND SOCIAL POWER OF THEIR MATHEMATICS. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE OF

INTEREST TO SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, STUDENTS OF MATHEMATICS AND

ETHNOMATHEMATICS, AND EVERYONE INTERESTED IN THE SITUATION OF

MARGINALIZED CHILDREN.