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2012e.00272 Rossi Becker, Joanne Commentary on the chapter by Dowling and Burke, ``Shall we do politics or learn some maths today? Representing and interrogating social inequality''. Forgasz, Helen (ed.) et al., Towards equity in mathematics education. Gender, culture, and diversity. Berlin: Springer (ISBN 978-3-642-27701-6/hbk; 978-3-642-27702-3/ebook). Advances in Mathematics Education, 111-114 (2012). 2012 Berlin: Springer EN C60 U20 social inequality school textbooks mathematics lessons critical mathematics education commentary ME 2012e.00849

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-27702-3_10

Summary: This article posits the following conundrum: Is it possible to structure a mathematics lesson that integrates questioning of social inequality with worthwhile mathematical material? {\ P. Dowling} and {\it J. Burke} [ibid., 87--103 (2012; ME 2012e.00849)] answer this question negatively. They conclude that a lesson must either privilege mathematics, providing all students with appropriate and rigorous mathematical content, or a lesson must privilege political motivations, providing for a full and extensive discussion of critical issues; according to the authors, it is not possible to accomplish both goals at the same time. This article is a commentary on {\it P. Dowling's} and {\it J. Burke's} article [loc. cit.].