Mathematics and school mathematics are often associated with neutrality or are seen as central in

building progress and a better future for people, communities and nations. Drawing on research

on the cultural politics of mathematics education, I will examine the school mathematics

curriculum as an important political technology to form and govern modern subjectivities. I

critically explore the desires that have been mobilized through the teaching and learning of

mathematics, and raise questions on the limits of current mathematical subjectivation in the

multiple crises of climate change.

Paola Valero is Professor at the Department of Teaching and Learning at Stockholm University. She received her

Ph.D. at the Danish University of Education with the thesis Reform, democracy and mathematics education. Towards a sociopolitical

frame for understanding change in the organization of secondary school mathematics. She has taught and researched at the

Universidad de los Andes in Colombia and Aalborg University in Denmark. Her research explores the crossings

between the mathematical and scientific rationality, the education in mathematics and science, and society.