Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 March 6

= March 6 =

Do some critical theorists disagree with critical pedagogy?
Critical pedagogy relies on the framework of the critical theory; that is, freedom could not be associated with any organized societies, for freedom is the primacy of the individual. Critical pedagogy, however, appears to forget the central tenet of critical theory, because “domesticating” the term “critical” in organized education implicitly invalidates the meaning of the notion critical. In other words, according to Pais, “its meaning can be lost when inserted in social frames (like schools) that aim not at emancipation but reproduction”. So it makes sense to ask if there are other more known critical theorists who object to critical pedagogy. Do some critical theorists disagree with critical pedagogy, especially when critical pedagogy applies critical theory in math and science formal education?49.144.216.169 (talk) 02:30, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * There is no such thing as a premiss in "critical theory", which, like "philosophy" is just a generic term, in this case typically for theoretical models in the humanities. The debate about socially critical forms of pedagogy dates back to the disputes over Louis Althusser's theories of ISAs and RSAs. Paul B (talk) 10:56, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Is the European American population still growing?
2. Is the number of middle and upper class residents of First World countries still growing?

3. What about by natural increase, without needing the help of upward mobility or international migration?

4. and 5. Same questions, but for the US.

Thanks. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 03:56, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * It doesn't answer your questions directly, but you may find Demographic-economic paradox to be an interesting read. -- Jayron  32  10:36, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * The title of your question, about European Americans, is specific to the United States. Your specific questions are somewhat impossible to answer, because there is no generally agreed bottom cut-off point for the middle class.  In fact, there is no general agreement on the meaning of the term middle class.  On the other hand, the question in your title can be answered, if we assume that the category "European American" is equivalent to the category "white" as used by the U.S. Census Bureau.  If it is, then according to this table, the answer to the question in your title is no, as of 2008.  As of that year (the most recent for which I could find data), the rate of natural increase for white Americans is slightly below the natural replacement rate, which means that, not counting net immigration, the native-born white population of the United States is very slowly shrinking.  Marco polo (talk) 19:43, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

A children's book series
There was this historical mystery book series for children whose name I'm forgetting. It has four child protagonists. There were also many installments, more than 30 I think. Ring any bells? --Yashowardhani (talk) 11:18, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * If you can remember any other details, those would help. In particular, can you remember when in history the stories happened, where they were set, and the names/genders of the children? RomanSpa (talk) 11:50, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * The_Famous_Five_(series)? 196.214.78.114 (talk) 12:46, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Don't be mislead by the title, it was four children and a dog. Alansplodge (talk) 13:04, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * If we're going with Enid Blyton there were four child protagonists in The Adventure Series, but only 8 books were written. --Dweller (talk) 13:02, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Magic Tree House series? Lots of books, but only 2 protagonists. -- Jayron  32  13:33, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

I think there were four child protagonists, or maybe five. There were many books, set in different countries and different time periods. Sounds weird, but one time I was really fascinated with them and wanted to read them. I also think the books were for older audience than Enid Blyton. They had very interesting historical contexts, see. I really wish I could remember more details but that's all I have.--Yashowardhani (talk) 14:35, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * History Mysteries? --Viennese Waltz 14:43, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Or perhaps The Roman Mysteries, which has four protagonists but the time period doesn't vary much. --Viennese Waltz 15:22, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * That's it! Thanks a lot. I probably got confused by some other book about that varying time period thing (I'm very forgetful). Thanks again! --Yashowardhani (talk) 10:38, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

Do the Amish allow paintings instead of photography?
It is known that the Amish doesn't allow photography. Do they allow paintings? Can "Englishers" paint portraits of the Amish, or is that a sin too? 140.254.227.87 (talk) 15:18, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * There are many variations in Amish traditions. "Old order" Amish use horse-drawn buggies, but are allowed to use gas or diesel powered tools. "New order" Amish can drive cars, as long as they are black. Not all Amish disallow photography. Some congregations frown upon the use of mirrors, while others don't. So-- I'm sure at least some Amish allow painted portraits, but some may well not. Also, note that many plain people are not Amish, though sometimes "Amish" is used incorrectly as a catch-all. See Amish, Subgroups_of_Amish, Amish_(disambiguation). True Old Order Amish are increasingly rare. There tends to be "creep", wherein children raised in one sect tend to move to more liberal sects as they age. Sorry there is no easy answer, but there is a lot of complexity in this question. If you really mean one specific denomination, I might be able to find a specific reference. SemanticMantis (talk) 17:58, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Tḧe problem with Amish + photos is that posing for them is an act of pride, I doubt it's any better to let someone paint a portrait of you. However, they are less restrictive to unposed pictures, in a natural setting. There are plenty of pictures and videos of Amish that corroborate that's possible to do that. OsmanRF34 (talk) 18:42, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Some Amish, at least, don't mind if outsiders take pictures (for outsiders' use) of Amish people doing everyday activities. However, I think most Amish would object to sitting for "portraits" of any kind because doing so is an act of vanity at odds with the humility expected in their society.  I think most Amish would object even more to displaying portraits of themselves, whether photographed or painted, because that shows even more vanity and immodesty than allowing the portrait to be made.  Marco polo (talk) 19:32, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Name for Middle-class in power?
How do you call it when the middle class is in power? Middleclasscraty? It wouldn't be a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, but more like a dictatorship of the petit bourguesie. OsmanRF34 (talk) 17:59, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * There is "mesocracy". ---Sluzzelin talk  18:30, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * There's a link to an economist who coined the term mediocracy. -- Jayron  32  01:57, 7 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Who are the middle class in capitalism? Management: managerialism Taylorism Fordism bureaucracy nomenklatura.  A technical elite: technocracy professional-managerial class.  The petitsbourgeois:  populism free-silver.  Answer me who the middle class is and you might get a meaningful answer. Fifelfoo (talk) 06:01, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Proudhonism for a society where everyone is petty bourgeois. Yeoman democracy for a 20th century version of it (Piore and Sabel, The Second Industrial Divide). Alain Lipietz said it equated to "woman slavery". Itsmejudith (talk) 07:20, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

Movement/organization advocating people to not report their race/ethnicity
I remember some years ago at a movie theater, there was a pre-trailer ad for some group that advocated for people to always put "don't wish to answer" or similar on any survey which asks for their race/ethnicity. Then it had some URL to go to for more information. Does anybody remember this and is this movement still going? -- Brainy J  ~ ✿ ~ ( talk ) 23:24, 6 March 2014 (UTC)


 * You didn't specify a country, but in the U.S. Michele Bachmann and some others advocated for that in 2010, even though the U.S. census has been collecting such information every 10 years since 1790... AnonMoos (talk) 23:54, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * The fact that Bachmann would support it automatically makes it suspect. But in general, what would be the reasoning behind that idea? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:13, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I think the idea was to do it as a protest against collecting racial and ethnic statistics, and/or move towards a post-racial society. And, yes, it was in the US.-- Brainy J  ~ ✿ ~ ( talk ) 03:13, 7 March 2014 (UTC)


 * It seems as a well-meant, but ill-conceived movement, if they meant to not disclose the information not even in the census. Knowing about the income, distribution, age, education (and so on) of different ethnic groups can be invaluable soemtimes. A different thing would be to be asked at a job interview (which I have never seen, BTW). OsmanRF34 (talk) 04:17, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, but some people have good reason to be suspicious of the invaluable uses ethnicity data will be put to. As a hypothetical, if the census data on populations is used to decide distribution of education resources, and you are concerned about institutional racism in the provision of education, then you might feel that encouraging people not to report their ethnicity will lead to more equitable provision of education. 86.161.109.226 (talk) 06:48, 7 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Always treat everyone equally, and race becomes irrelevant, as it should be. This sounds like a good movement. HiLo48 (talk) 06:57, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, that approach fails to detect when a particular grouping is being disadvantaged in some way, or not being reached by a service of some kind. That is the raison d'être of ethnic monitoring. Alansplodge (talk) 13:15, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Additionally, it is beyond insulting to say "race is irrelevant", which means "my culture is the only one that matters, so long as you abandon your culture and follow mine, I acknowledge you, however, I'm going to ignore anything that isn't my culture" Instead, race and other cultural groups should be recognized and accepted on their own terms.  Other cultures are not irrelevant to the people that live in them.  They are very relevant to them.  -- Jayron  32  13:29, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I think you are mixing race with culture and ethnicity. I don't think anyone would argue that culture or ethnicity are irellevant, but race really should be. -- Q Chris (talk) 13:32, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Race is a cultural/ethnic concept. Unless you mean "skin color", and insofar as people from an ethnicity share can often share similar skin colors, such factors certainly play a role in cultural and ethnic identity, so cannot be ignored as though they didn't.  -- Jayron  32  13:54, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
 * All of this is debate, and none of it helps in answering the OP's question. --Bowlhover (talk) 16:06, 7 March 2014 (UTC)