No profit left behind: the effects of the global political economy on public basic education

• Main Author: Remo Moreira Brito Bastos
• Other Authors: Antonia Rozimar Machado e Rocha
• Format: Others
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Federal do Cearà 2017
• Subjects: Economia polÃtica da educaÃÃo; Capitalismo monopolista financeiro; EducaÃÃo neoliberal.; Political economy of education; Finance-monopoly capitalism; Neoliberal education.; EDUCACAO
• Online Access: http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=20189

nÃo hà === The object of this research is the capture of basic public education in most contemporary societies by the global macro-structure of political-economic power, composed of large multinational corporate oligopolies (finance included), supported by multilateral organizations of the international capitalist institutional system (World Bank, IMF and OECD, mainly), by powerful private foundations emanating from huge corporate empires such as Gates, Broad, Walton, among others, by think-tanks and large media outlets, both graciously funded by large global business corporations, in order to instrumentalizing that social sphere with a view to boosting and accelerating the process of accumulation of global capital in the context of the serious structural crisis that has plagued the capitalist mode of production since the mid-1960s. In this perspective, we will try to apprehend not only the connections between education and the crisis, but, above all, the systemic roots of it. Even admitting the relative autonomy of the educational complex vis-Ã-vis the economic system to which it is integrated, it is understood that, in the last instance, the structural constraints imposed by that process of accumulation determine the character and function that education plays in the total social complex in which it operates. In this sense, the general objective of this research is to investigate the influence of the global political economy on public basic education, elucidating the structural causes that contribute to the deterioration of the basic public education systems. In this direction, we articulate the specific objectives that, in general, are linked to the chapters that compose the present work. Thus, the specific objective of the first chapter is to examine the constituent elements of this global macrostructure in the context of the reproduction of capital in times of crisis. The second chapter has the specific objective of empirically and theoretically contextualizing and problematizing in national spheres the manifestations of the imposition of the educational model prescribed by the aforementioned macrostructure of power, examining in particular the US and Brazilian cases, and the third has as its specific objective to examine two national educational systems that overcome the global corporate education model, namely the Finnish and the Cuban ones. From the theoretical-methodological point of view, the present study unfolds in a bibliographical and documentary research, in which, in the light of dialectical historical materialism, it seeks to grasp the determinants of the current conjuncture of the global political economy of education. The results of the research pointed to the capture of public basic education by the oligopolistic macro-structure of global economic and political power and its exploitation with a view to boosting the trillion-dollar private education world market. It was verified that the implantation of this ultra pragmatic corporate educational model failed, wherever it was adopted, to achieve the declared objectives of recovering the level of educational performance and to eliminate the difference of performances among the students. In opposition to such model, the existence of the successful educational experiences in Finland and in Cuba has patently demonstrated the plausibility of constructing, in any social formation, a minimally just and effective educational system, thus demonstrating that the issue is political, rather than necessarily and only economic. === O objeto de estudo desta pesquisa consiste na captura da educaÃÃo bÃsica pÃblica na maioria das sociedades contemporÃneas pela macroestrutura global de poder polÃtico-econÃmico, composta pelos grandes oligopÃlios empresariais (finanÃa incluÃda) transnacionais, com o suporte das organizaÃÃes multilaterais do sistema institucional capitalista internacional (Banco Mundial, FMI e OCDE, principalmente), das poderosas fundaÃÃes privadas oriundas de imensos impÃrios empresariais, tais como Gates, Broad, Walton, dentre outras, dos think-tanks e dos grandes veÃculos de mÃdia, ambos graciosamente financiados pelas grandes corporaÃÃes empresariais globais, no sentido de instrumentalizar aquela esfera social com vistas a dinamizar e acelerar o processo de acumulaÃÃo do capital global, no contexto da grave crise estrutural que desde meados da dÃcada de 1960 assola o modo de produÃÃo capitalista. Nessa perspectiva, buscar-se-à apreender nÃo somente as conexÃes entre a educaÃÃo e referida crise, mas, sobretudo, as raÃzes sistÃmicas desta. Mesmo admitindo a autonomia relativa da qual dispÃe o complexo educacional face ao sistema econÃmico ao qual se integra, entende-se que, em Ãltima instÃncia, os constrangimentos estruturais impostos por aquele processo de acumulaÃÃo determinam o carÃter e a funÃÃo que a educaÃÃo desempenha no complexo social total no qual se insere. Nesse sentido, o objetivo geral da presente pesquisa consiste em investigar os influxos da economia polÃtica global sobre a educaÃÃo bÃsica pÃblica, elucidando as causas estruturais que contribuem para a deterioraÃÃo dos sistemas pÃblicos bÃsicos de ensino. Nessa direÃÃo, articulam-se os objetivos especÃficos que, de modo geral, vinculam-se aos capÃtulos que compÃem o presente trabalho. Dessa forma, o objetivo especÃfico do primeiro capÃtulo consiste em examinar os elementos constitutivos da referida macroestrutura global no contexto da reproduÃÃo do capital em tempos de crise. O segundo capÃtulo tem o objetivo especÃfico de, em esferas nacionais, contextualizar e problematizar empÃrica e teoricamente como se manifestam os desdobramentos da imposiÃÃo do modelo educacional prescrito pela mencionada macroestrutura de poder, examinando particularmente os casos estadunidense e brasileiro, e o terceiro tem como objetivo especÃfico examinar dois sistemas educacionais nacionais que superam o modelo corporativo global de educaÃÃo, a saber, o finlandÃs e o cubano. Do ponto de vista teÃrico-metodolÃgico, o presente estudo desdobra-se em uma pesquisa bibliogrÃfica e documental, na qual se busca, à luz do materialismo histÃrico dialÃtico, apreender os determinantes da atual conjuntura da economia polÃtica global da educaÃÃo. Os resultados da pesquisa apontaram a captura da educaÃÃo bÃsica pÃblica pela macroestrutura oligopÃlica de poder econÃmico-polÃtico global, e sua exploraÃÃo com vistas ao impulso do trilionÃrio mercado mundial de educaÃÃo privada. Constatou-se que a implantaÃÃo desse modelo educacional imediatista, mercantil e adestrador fracassou, por onde foi adotado, em lograr os declarados objetivos de recuperar o nÃvel de desempenho educacional e de eliminar a diferenÃa de desempenhos entre os discentes. Em oposiÃÃo a tal modelo, a existÃncia das vitoriosas experiÃncias educacionais na FinlÃndia e em Cuba evidenciou a plausibilidade da construÃÃo, em qualquer formaÃÃo social, de um sistema educacional minimamente justo e eficaz, demonstrando, portanto, que a questÃo à polÃtica, e nÃo necessÃria e unicamente econÃmica.