How Local Are Local People? Beyond Exoticism

In this article we shall evaluate the possibility of a meta-level analysis based on two empirical long term ethnographical investigations. This analysis is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers involved in the ethnomathematics programme. Insights drawn from anthropology, mathematics, learning theory, epistemology and philosophy converge in our meta-level analysis. The main research questions at the basic level of empirical research are the analyses of local ethnomathematical practices on four levels: a descriptive level (appearance), an analytical level (mathematical rationale), an educational level (informal learning) and an interactive level (integration of local and global knowledge). The purpose of this meta-analysis is to broaden the theoretical toolkit for further empirical investigations in this area.