Jumping to line 32, here is the full view of the scholars mentioned there:
Even scholars who have questioned the “golden age†view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past.
The reason we get “paradoxical†is because those scholars are the ones that, according to the beginning of that line, question the “golden age.†However, despite the fact they question it, they still continue to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past. That decline from a more desirable past is essentially implying a better time in the past, or a “golden age†—yet those same scholars question the “golden age.†Hence, it can be inferred that the author would most likely describe their views as “paradoxical.â€
The next sentence, that starts with “For example†further demonstrated this paradoxical viewpoint.
