Who Counts? : the Mathematics of Death and Life after Genocide

Book

Who Counts? : the Mathematics of Death and Life after Genocide / Diane M. Nelson.

Nelson, Diane M., 1963- (author.).

Summary:

Bookkeeping -- Before and after-math -- The algebra of genocide -- Reunion of broken parts, number and/as repair -- 100% omnilife -- Mayan pyramid (scheme) -- A life's worth -- Beyond adequacy

"In Who Counts? Diane M. Nelson explores the social life of numbers, teasing out the myriad roles math plays in Guatemalan state violence, economic exploitation, and disenfranchisement, as well as in Mayan revitalization and grassroots environmental struggles. In the aftermath of thirty-six years of civil war, to count--both numerically and in the sense of having value--is a contested and qualitative practice of complex calculations encompassing war losses, migration, debt, and competing understandings of progress. Nelson makes broad connections among seemingly divergent phenomena, such as debates over reparations for genocide victims, Ponzi schemes, and antimining movements. Challenging the presumed objectivity of Western mathematics, Nelson shows how it flattens social complexity and becomes a raced, classed, and gendered skill that colonial powers considered beyond the grasp of indigenous peoples. Yet the Classic Maya are famous for the precision of their mathematics, including conceptualizing zero long before Europeans. Nelson shows how Guatemala's indigenous population is increasingly returning to Mayan numeracy to critique systemic inequalities with the goal of being counted--in every sense of the word."--Publisher's description

Record details

ISBN: 9780822359739
ISBN: 0822359731
ISBN: 9780822360056
ISBN: 0822360055
ISBN: 0822375079
ISBN: 9780822375074
Physical Description: xii, 307 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
Publisher: Durham : Duke University Press, 2015.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:: Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-296) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:: Chapter minus one -- Bookkeeping -- Before and after-math -- The algebra of genocide -- Reunion of broken parts, number and/as repair -- 100% omnilife -- Mayan pyramid (scheme) -- A life's worth -- Beyond adequacy.