As you may gather, I have withdrawn from such debates. They are
singularly unproductive, except as a reflection of the damage
that imperialism has done to people's thinking. Littlewood was a
victim of a class and an intellectual climate in which opinions such
as the one he expressed was not uncommon.
Where does one begin! I can only refer to some of my own writing.
"Foundations of Eurocentrism in Mathematics" in Ethnomathematics:
Challenging Eurocentrism in Mathematics (Eds. M. Frankenstein and
A Powell), SUNY Press, New York, 1997
"Mathematics and Eurocentrism" in Enduring Western Civilization
(Ed. S. Federici), Praeger Publishers, Westport, 1995, pp. 119-136
(in English and Spanish) Mathematics in Ancient India; Harappa
Civilization: Mathematics in Metrology", Mathesis, 12, 1996, pp.
236-283
(in Malayalam) "Transmissions of Mathematical Knowledge during the
Medieval Period", Kerala Padanengal, 5, September 1995.
"Cognitive Encounters in India during the Age of Imperialism",
Race and Class, 36 (3), 1995, pp. 39-56
"The Politics of Anti-Racist Mathematics", European Education Journal,
July 1994, pp. 67-74
(with V Reddy and M Searle-Chatterjee), "Eurocentrism in the
Social Sciences", Race and Class, 31 (4), 1990
With best regards,
George
-----------------------------------
Dr George Gheverghese Joseph,
School of Economic Studies,
University of Manchester,
Oxford Road,
Manchester M13 9PL
United Kingdom
Phone: (0161) 275-4871
Fax: (0161) 275-4812