Universities, Middle-Class Politics, and State-Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990." (2011)
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-2-2011 Complicated Campuses: Universities, Middle- Class Politics, and State-Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990 Colin M. Snider Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Recommended Citation Snider, Colin M.. "Complicated Campuses: Universities, Middle-Class Politics, and State-Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/71 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Complicated Campuses: Universities, Middle-Class Politics, and State- Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990 By Colin M. Snider B.A., History, English Literature, and Spanish, Ohio Northern University, 2002 M.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2004 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2011 ii © Colin M. Snider, 2011 ii DEDICATION In memory of my grandparents, who taught me the joys of learning and the importance of always asking questions. In honor of my parents, who taught me the importance of working hard, striving to improve, and persevering in the face of all challenges. In tribute to my wife, whose support helped me through it all and who never doubted my ability, even when I did. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must first thank Dr. Judy Bieber, my advisor and dissertation chair, for all of her contributions. When I first enrolled in her Modern Brazil seminar in my second semester of my Masters program, I suspect neither she nor I imagined we would be working together for the next eight years. Through those years, her support has kept me going, be it through her classes that helped me to develop this current project or through her tireless efforts as I researched and wrote. While always a friend, she was also often able to startle me by asking difficult questions that had never crossed my mind, prompting me to think about my work and the world more generally in new ways. When I began writing the dissertation, I had little idea of where the final project would end up, yet she was always there to nudge me along, often seeing my arguments and ideas better than I myself did. I owe her debts that I can never repay, but I hope this thank you begins to repay those debts in some small measure. I also thank my committee members, Dr. Elizabeth Hutchison, Dr. Linda Hall, Dr. Victoria Langland, and Dr. Margo Milleret. Their contributions to my academic development far exceed their recommendations for this study. Throughout the years, they have pushed me and helped me to develop as a scholar through classes, conferences, and comments. While the path was not always easy for me, they were always there with words of encouragement, and for that, I am eternally grateful to each of them. I extend my gratitude to the Latin American and Iberian Institute, whose Field Research Grant allowed me to travel to Brazil on a preliminary research trip iv in 2005 and whose Ph.D. Fellowship allowed me to conduct intense archival research and begin writing the dissertation. My research was also made possible through a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grant, and I thank the U.S. Department of Education for the incredible opportunity. I also thank the Student Research and Allocations Committee and the History Graduate Student Association at the University of New Mexico, whose funding allowed me to spend a month conducting preliminary research in Rio de Janeiro in 2005. Many, many friends aided me in my long journey through the dissertation. Teresa Cribelli, Heather Roller, Kari Zimmerman, Ann Schneider, Yuko Miki, Patricia Acerbi, and Ben Cowan provided wonderful friendship and support during my time in Brazil. Justin Barber provided invaluable comments as I was writing it, and I thank him for that and for his willingness to tackle the modern nation-state despite his own research interests. Through my years at the University of New Mexico, so many friends contributed to this project indirectly, be it through moral support, intellectual discussions, or just sitting over beers and venting, and although their names are too many to list here, they are not forgotten. I thank my family for supporting me through the process and believing I could complete the dissertation, even when I myself was not so sure. I also appreciate that they were able to keep the “so when will you be finished?” line of questioning to a minimum, even though it was no doubt difficult for them sometimes. I never could have completed my dissertation without their ongoing support and encouragement. v Finally, to my wife Daniella, I offer a simple but heartfelt thank you for everything. The words do not adequately express the depth and sincerity of my gratitude, but you know nonetheless. vi Complicated Campuses: Universities, Middle-Class Politics, and State- Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990 BY Colin M. Snider ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May 2011 vii Complicated Campuses: Universities, Middle-Class Politics, and State- Society Relations in Brazil, 1955-1990 by Colin M. Snider B.A., History, English Literature, and Spanish M.A., History Ph.D., History Abstract This dissertation examines universities and the development of middle- class politics in Brazil in the latter half of the twentieth century. It asks: how did the middle class become increasingly important to Brazilian politics and society? By focusing on the university system as both a physical and discursive site of negotiation, the dissertation traces how the military, bureaucrats, business leaders, pedagogues, students, and parents entered into complex debates over education and national development. Drawing from police records, bureaucratic archives, private collections, and oral interviews, it studies how the middle class and the state under military rule strengthened the role of the middle class by connecting university education, development, and white-collar professions. Thus, the analysis moves beyond narratives of repression and resistance to examine the complex nature of state-society relations before and during Brazil’s military dictatorship, and reveals considerable ideological heterogeneity within the student population. In doing so, it contributes to the political and social history of Brazil, as well as adding to the small but increasingly important scholarship on the middle class in Latin America. viii The dissertation shows how universities became increasingly central to middle class politics. Early chapters trace the rise of universities’ importance to different visions of national development. When the military dictatorship rose to power in 1964, universities functioned both as physical sites to resist the dictatorship as well as discursive fields where society and the state debated Brazil’s future. In these discursive struggles, groups with widely varying ideologies coalesced around the idea of expanding the middle class as the primary vehicle for national development. As increasing economic turbulence and gradual political opening took place after 1975, students and university-trained professionals with particular material and political expectations became a major force in the push for a return to democratization. By the dictatorship’s end in 1985, the emphasis on university education across the previous thirty years had helped the middle class emerge as a major voice in Brazilian society and politics. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………...iv Glossary of Acronyms…………………………………………………………..xi Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One – The Ivory Tower, or the Tower of Babel?: The Origins of University Reform, 1956-1964……...………….................................................57 Chapter Two – Laying the Groundwork for Reform and Development: Military Educational Visions and Policy, 1964-1968……………………..…108 Chapter Three – Of Drinking Fountains and Imperialism: Students, Civilians, and Visions of the University in Brazil, 1964-1968………………138 Chapter Four – “Planning Is a Continuous Process”: Military Educational Policy and the Middle Class, 1969-1979……………………………………...188 Chapter Five – “There Isn’t a Process of Terror that Quiets the Voice of the Youth”: New Demands, and New Visions from Students, 1972-1979……...226 Chapter Six – Making Middle-Class Mobilization – Students, White-Collar Workers, and the Return to Democracy, 1979-1985………………………..271 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..320 Bibliography………………………………………………………………..….340 x List of Acronyms AI-5 – Ato Institucional No. 5 (Institutional Act No. 5) ANDES – Associação Nacional dos Docentes de Ensino Superior (National Association of Higher Education Docents) AP – Ação Popular (Popular Action) ARENA – Aliança Nacional Renovadora (National Alliance for Renovation) BID – Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento (Inter- American Development Bank) BIRD – Banco Internacional para Reconstrução e Desenvolvimento (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) BNDES – Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento (National Bank of Development) CAPES