Per scientiam ad justitiam Marzo 13, 2008
Posted by datacritica in Saludos a Salud ProMujer, Uncategorized. add a comment Welcome to the blog of Luis A. Avilés!
Professor of sociology at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus.
Following the example of gay scientist Magnus Hirschfeld, my research and teaching is guided by the principle of Per Scientiam Ad Justitiam (justice through science.)
My research and teaching activities use Marxist theory as an essential instrument for analyzing the patterns of injustice in contemporary societies, using the field of official statistics as a favorite object of social critique.
Despising disciplinary demarcations, my work uses ideas from sociology, geography, public health, and critical theory as the basis for social and scientific critique.
I am the editor of the open access journal:
DataCritica: International Journal of Critical Statistics (www.datacritica.net).
In the following sections I present a sample of my on-going research.
Hope it is useful!
Why Ínsula Crítica ?
Whe other have said great things, there is very little to add. The book Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico, ends with an epilogue with the title Ghost, yborgs, and why Puerto Rico is the most important place in the word, which far from ethnocentric arrogance is a matter of profound sociological insights. The author, Laura Briggs, says:
Puerto Rico offers a rich field for analysis for the contemporary world-political situation because most of the processes we associate with globalization and the intellectual moves that constitute its analysis:
- the fundamental instability of racial categories;
- the importance of U.S. imperial politics;
- the impotence and ultimately insignificance of the state (at least, the Puerto Rican state);
- the permeability of national cultures; and
- the prominence of diasporic labor migration
began sooner and have lasted longer in the island and among its population overseas than in most other places.
In a nutshell, Puerto Rico provides an excellent laboratory for testing sociological theory and practicing radical politics.