Academic Capitalism in the Interstices of the Brazilian Public University

Abstract

This article investigates the Financial Market Leagues (LMF) as interstitial organizations through the lens of the Theory of Academic Capitalism. A case study was conducted based on a LMF in a Brazilian public university (LMF-Unab). Data collection involved the LMF’s National Council, business press, institutional pages of the LMFs and the internships coordination of the university studied. Moreover, 82 questionnaires were applied to members of 29 LMFs and the founders of the LMF-Unab were interviewed. The results revealed that 70.1% of respondents are between 20-23 years old; 81% attended private high school; 48% attend Engineering courses. LMFs operate within universities legitimizing narratives and metrics typical of a financialization process, which is illustrated by iconic figures of the discourse of meritocracy and the aggressive culture of results, such as Jorge Paulo Lemann, among other respondents' sources of inspiration. This paper addresses the literature gap regarding the understanding of student organizations as actors of academic capitalism, often portrayed as passive agents in this process, but who are actually active and benefit from it.

Keywords

• finance clubs
• academic capitalism
• financialization
• corporatization of higher education
• commoditization of knowledge