Ação afirmativa e democratização do ensino superior(graduação) em três universidades do PROCAD-AM: êxitos, limites e possibilidades

Abstract

The research project entitled “Affirmative action and the democratization of higher education (undergraduate) at three Procad-Am universities: successes, limitations, and possibilities” sought to answer the question: “How does affirmative action policy contribute to the democratization of higher education at the universities (UFPA, UFAM, and UFMT) involved in Procad-Am?” The main objective was to analyze the relationship between affirmative action policy and the process of democratization of higher education in the context of these three universities. To this end, three specific objectives were organized: the first consists of contextualizing the debate on the democratization of higher education in international, national, and Amazonian scenarios; the second refers to the characterization of the implications of affirmative action policy in the democratization process of the three universities served by Procad-Am; and the third aims to discuss the institutional repercussions of the implementation of affirmative action in the three universities. This is a qualitative research study, based on a historical-dialectical materialist approach, using the technique of documentary analysis (Souza; Kantorski; Luis, 2011), structured in three sections. The first, entitled “Education, Class, Race, Democracy, and Capitalism: nuances of affirmative action policy and the democratization of higher education,” sought to grasp the totality of the discussions on affirmative action and the democratization of higher education, understanding education as a field of dispute between antagonistic classes, but also intraclass, that is, within the working class itself. The second section, entitled “Perspectives on the democratization of higher education: a contextual analysis,” addressed democratization strategies from international, national, and regional perspectives, discussing how each society constructs models of democratization according to its context, highlighting the paths taken in search of a less unequal higher education system. Finally, the third section, entitled “Affirmative action policy and democratization of higher education: successes, limits, and possibilities,” reflected on and analyzed the contribution of affirmative action policy to the democratization of higher education at UFPA, UFAM, and UFMT, highlighting its successes, limits, and possibilities in the democratization process. We concluded that affirmative action policy contributes to the democratization of higher education in the Amazon by serving as a fundamental mechanism for access, inclusion, participation, and institutional diversity for the working class, especially for the black population, considering the model of society and bourgeois sociability in which we live. However, in terms of democratization, this policy reflects, at most, the ideals of a representative democracy, since the current social situation acts as a limitation on substantive democracy and, consequently, on the full democratization of higher education, as this would imply universal access, rather than the restricted access that currently exists.