Rik Pinxten Livres

The book advocates for a math education approach that begins with children's diverse out-of-school knowledge, using sociocultural learning theories, particularly from Vygotsky. It highlights the importance of incorporating global ethnographic insights to enrich curricula. Additionally, it critiques the Western-centric perspective prevalent in OECD analyses and proposals, promoting a more inclusive and varied framework for teaching mathematics.

A scientific approach to understanding religion is explored, emphasizing the need for a comparative methodology to transcend historical biases. The author argues that traditional phenomenological perspectives are often shaped by specific religious contexts, highlighting the importance of an anthropological viewpoint in analyzing religious phenomena. This work aims to provide a more objective understanding of religion by addressing and overcoming these inherent biases.

The book critiques the legacy of Eurocentrism and its impact on human relationships with nature and society. It argues for a shift towards NEED-humanism, emphasizing an approach that is non-Eurocentric, ecological, and economically sustainable. By applying an anthropological lens, it advocates for inclusivity and pluralism as essential components for addressing current environmental crises and fostering a more equitable future. The work seeks to redefine humanism in a way that prioritizes the well-being of both people and the planet.

The book comprises four parts, all of them reflecting about anthropology and its usefulness. The first part questions the data gathering ways of the discipline, combining interpretive and scientific pretenses, against mere postmodernism. The second part pleads for a broad comparative theory in anthropology, illustrating this by studies on learning. A separate study on comparison of ethnocentrism leads on to the last part, which reconsiders the philosophical debate on relativism and universalism and consecutively speculates on the possibilities to use anthropology in intercultural negotiation and conflict management.