Historia de la Educación (Jul 2011)
Education and populist movements in Latin America: a failed emancipation
Abstract
Populist movements, particularly those of Latin America, have been perceived as an intellectual problematic object since its appearance. In several occasions they introduced in the public discourse the issue of «emancipation» of Latin American nations from foreign guardianships or oligarchic national minorities, and implemented nationalist state policies. This article examines aspects of the education policies of the governments of Getúlio Vargas in Brazil and Juan D. Perón in Argentina, especially the reform and expansion of technical-vocational education boosted by both of them. The study highlights the connection between these reforms and the groups and social classes which provided support to these governments and with the strategies of the application of power. The article briefly revises the different interpretations that populism has generated and refers to the current academic debate on the subject. The conclusion points at the fact, that populist governments present contradictory stages in their social and educational policies, perhaps as an expression of the difficult conflicts that still hit Latin American societies.
