The Heisenberg product seen as a branching problem for connected reductive groups, stability properties

In this article we study, in the context of complex representations of symmetric groups, some aspects of the Heisenberg product, introduced by Marcelo Aguiar, Walter Ferrer Santos, and Walter Moreira in 2017. When applied to irreducible representations, this product gives rise to the Aguiar coefficients. We prove that these coefficients are in fact also branching coefficients for representations of connected complex reductive groups. This allows to use geometric methods already developped in a previous article, notably based on notions from Geometric Invariant Theory, and to obtain some stability results on Aguiar coefficients, generalising some of the results concerning them given by Li Ying

Rancière and the poetics of the social sciences

This article reviews the significance of Jacques Rancière’s work for methodological debates in the social sciences, and education specifically. It explores the implications of framing methodology as an aesthetic endeavour, rather than as the applied technique of research. What is at stake in this distinction is the means by which research intervenes in social order and how it assumes political significance, with Rancière arguing against a notion of science as the other of ideology. Rancière’s argument for a democratic research practice organised around a ‘method of equality’ is situated in relation to openly ideological’ feminist ethnography. The implications of Rancière’s work for investigating affect in academic discourse and subjectification in education are reviewed in the conclusion

Emancipation, equality and education : Rancière’s critique of Bourdieu and the question of performativity

Jacques Rancière’s work has had significant impact in philosophy and literary theory, but remains largely undiscussed in the field of education. This article is a review of the relevance of Rancière’s work to education research. Rancière’s argument about education emerges from his critique of Bourdieu, which states that Bourdieu reinforces inequality by presuming it as the starting point of his analysis. What is at stake is the question of performativity, and the means by which discourse has effects. This debate has implications for considering the basis of claims to truth in literary and social science discourse. Parallels are drawn between Judith Butler’s and Ranciere’s portrayal of the relationship between discourse and subjection, as well as their attention to discursive ‘imitation’ in making inequality representable. The article concludes with a discussion of the problematic which Rancière’s work suggests for education research. Amende

Studying Games in School: a Framework for Media Education

This paper explores how media education principles can be extended to digital games, and whether the notion of ‘game literacy’ is an appropriate metaphor for thinking about the study of digital games in schools. Rationales for studying the media are presented, focusing on the importance of setting up social situations that encourage more systematic and critical understanding of games. The value of practical production, or game making, is emphasized, as a way of developing both conceptual understanding and creative abilities. Definitions of games are reviewed to explore whether the study of games is best described as a form of literacy. I conclude that games raise difficulties for existing literacy frameworks, but that it remains important to study the multiple aspects of games in an integrated way. A model for conceptualizing the study of games is presented which focuses on the relationship between design, play and culture

On finsler entropy of smooth distributions and Stefan-Sussman foliations

Using the definition of entropy of a family of increasing distances on a compact metric set given in [10] we introduce a notion of Finsler entropy for smooth distributions and Stefan-Sussmann foliations. This concept generalizes most of classical topological entropy on a compact Riemannian manifold : the entropy of a flow ([9]), of a regular foliation ([11]), of a regular distribution ([5]) and of a geometrical structure ([22]). The essential results of this paper is the nullity of the Finsler entropy for a controllable distribution and for a singular Riemannian foliation

Reconfiguring Interactivity, Agency and Pleasure in the Education and Computer Games Debate – using Žižek’s concept of interpassivity to analyse educational play

Digital or computer games have recently attracted the interest of education researchers and policy-makers for two main reasons: their interactivity, which is said to allow greater agency, and their inherent pleasures, which is linked to increased motivation to learn. However, the relationship between pleasure, agency and motivation in educational technologies is under-theorised. This paper aims to situate these concepts within a framework that might identify more precisely how games can be considered to be educational. The framework is based on Zizek’s theory of subjectivity in cyberspace, and in particular his notion of interpassivity, which is defined in relation to interactivity. The usefulness of this concept is explored firstly by examining three approaches to theorizing cyberspace and their respective manifestations in key texts on educational game play. Zizek’s analysis of cyberspace in terms of socio-symbolic relations is then outlined to suggest how games might be considered educational insofar as they provide opportunities to manipulate and experiment with the rules underpinning our sense of reality and identity. This resembles Brecht’s notion of the educational value of theatre. The conclusion emphasizes that the terms on which games are understood to be educational relates to the social interests which education is understood to serve