In favor of a topological reading of curriculum policies

Author

Elizabeth Macedo

UERJ

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4886-8709

Abstract

This paper is constructed around two desires that, over the years, have led me to the work of Stephen Ball - to understand politics as significant in specific historical and cultural contexts, and to conceptualize political agency beyond structural determination. From the dialogue between the notion of network in Ball´s latest works and the discourse theory as formulated by Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, I argue in favor of a topological analysis of politics. I defend it as a way to better understand both the connections between the “political contexts” and the relationship between social [topological] structure and political agency. Although my focus here is the theoretical dialogues with which I have been working, I use fragments of my research on analyzing curriculum control in recent policies in Brazil as evidence to support my argument.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Macedo

UERJ

Elizabeth Macedo é professora e procientista da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Pesquisadora do CNPq e Cientista do Nosso Estado/ FAPERJ. Pesquisa na área de currículo, com ênfase na questão da diferença, trabalhando com autores pós-coloniais, pós-fundacionais e pós-estruturais. É Editora Associada da Journal of Curriculum Studies e membro do Editorial Board da Curriculum Inquiry e da E-curriculum. É coordinadora da área de Educação na FAPERJ. É presidente da International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. Foi pesquisadora visitante nas University of British Columbia (2007) e no Teachers College, Columbia University (2013-2014). 

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