ABSTRACT
Approaching intelligence is always a challenging task. In many senses, it is like talking about a deity that pervades our understanding of the world in which we live but that escapes any attempt to make visible the nature of this understanding. Indeed, as in the case of a deity, the general belief in western countries that intelligence exists locates the study of this existence as trespassing the invisible limits of what can, and can not, be the subject of social inquiry. Aware of the difficulties of trespassing these limits, Le., of making cultural assumptions susceptible to social criticism, I intend to de-sacrelize the widespread notion of intelligence. Particularly, I intend to critically explore the connections between this notion and certain dynamics of social exclusion that, ultimately, will make this notion not only visible but also accountable for important inequalities in our lives.
