Learning to assemble the hidden bodies: Embodied and emplaced mathematical literacy in transnational migrant activism

ABSTRACT Background We situate the mobilization of mathematical literacy as a tool to see and redress social and historical dilemmas (Engeström, 2014; Gutiérrez, 2016) rooted in the geo-economic politics of race, gender, and class. Methods Using collaborative ethnography, we describe how mathematical literacy was mobilized by an activist collective that intervened against violence toward migrant women. Our research considers a long period of development to examine how the activism impacted bodily politics, community, and relevant policies. Findings Our findings illustrate how the collective of activists led by a migrant woman of color countered the official data that did not reveal marginalized voices. Critical synthesis of embodiment and emplacement allowed us to examine how the mobilization of mathematical literacy became consequential (Jurow et al., 2016) in two interrelated aspects: 1) embodiment, the process through which the historically hidden bodies of migrant women came to be visible and assembled and 2) emplacement, the transformation of a place toward gathering disparate bodies. Contribution Our work contributes to expanding the geo-political terrain of scholarship in the learning sciences by bringing forth the history of activism led by Filipina migrants in Japan, which in turn shines a light on traditionally masked epistemology key to mobilizing mathematical literacy for solidarity.