Considerations on the crisis of the meaning of universities under neoliberal management

Abstract

This article presents critical considerations on the assumption of forms of university management aligned with neoliberal premises, in the context of Brazilian federal universities. The processes of implementation (in the colonial period), expansion (in the 1920s as colleges and then Universities in the 1930s) and university recovery (in the 2000s) have been impacted by the country's political, social and economic development, deeply marking the meanings and purposes of Higher Education. Supported by the conception that the Brazilian university context has suffered the impact of the national development model based on dependent capitalism, we also consider the basis for the constitution of social classes in Brazil and address how access to the University influences social conformation in these terms. In this way, we present considerations regarding the transformation of the meaning of existence of Universities - from social to technocratic -, reflecting on the impact of the absorption, by university management, of neoliberal management prerogatives, based on the presentation of examples on this issue in relation to to policies related to the daily life of Universities, seeking to include planning and execution policies at both national and local levels. For our analysis, the Narrative Review method was used. We conclude critically, in this sense, on how university management, through the assumption of neoliberal prerogatives, has been the stage for advances in its hegemonic control by the dominant sectors of the Brazilian elite, a phenomenon that urges the urgency of expanding and deepening studies and debates on the theme.