Affirmative Action and Political Dispute in Today’s Brazilian Academe

Abstract

The current discussion about the quota system being introduced to increase access by black students to public universities in Brazil has at least two components. The first is who can acquire one of the prerequisites to entering Brazil's ruling establishment: a degree from a Brazilian public university. The second is what paradigm for interpreting race relations is most pertinent to the real situation in Brazil.Neste artigo discute-se o que está sob disputa na sociedade brasileira com a implementação do sistema de cotas para estudantes negros ingressarem nas universidades públicas b rasileiras. Levanta-se a hipótese de que há pelo menos duas disputas. A primeira é sobre quem poderá adquirir um dos pré-requisitos para aspirar fazer parte das elites dirigentes deste país: o diploma de uma universidade pública brasileira. A segunda disputa é sobre qual paradigma de interpretação das relações raciais é mais pertinente para a realidade brasileira.

The Unstoppable Force, the Immovable Object

“…Through this regressive model of "free" public university education, the country has been able to promote and protect one of the most persistent and profound levels of inequality, among democracies. In the last decade, several programs of affirmative action are repositioning, for good, the role of public universities (Dos Santos et al 2014).…”

State intervention, South-South cooperation and structural transformation: the (ignored) case of Brazil-Venezuela cooperation for equity of access to university education, 2003-2016

“…175-77). Expansion of availability was accompanied by affirmative action through state regulation in support of equity in accessibility: first, the introduction of a quota system to reduce the historical class/race discrimination in access to the more prestigious public universities (MCCOWAN, 2007(MCCOWAN, , 2015SANTOS, 2014). As in Venezuela, such segregation was largely perceived as being rooted in entry examinations that privilege higher-income sectors that can afford private secondary schooling and preparatory courses (MCCOWAN, 2015).…”

Black Student Understandings of Affirmative Action in Brazil

“…Since the 2002 adaptation of affirmative action in Brazilian higher education, the number of Black students in universities has increased (Johnson & Heringer, 2015;Penha-Lopes, 2008;dos Santos, 2014). This policy, deemed constitutional by Brazil's Supreme Court in 2012, supports the use of reserved spaces or quotas for underrepresented students based on race, ethnicity, class, ability, and type of primary or secondary school attended.…”

“…In order to compete and gain access to a reserved space, students must self-identify with one of the above categories through an application process. Affirmative action has been highly contested throughout Brazil with the race-based quota as arguably one of the most controversial aspects of the policy (de Araujo, 2012;Heringer, 2013;dos Santos, 2014;Schwartzman, 2008Schwartzman, , 2009. This is nothing new to the country that is home to the largest number of African descendants outside of Africa and is well known for high rates of miscegenation and convoluted interracial relations.…”