Il Brasile neoliberista e il paradosso dell’insegnamento universitario a distanza

Abstract

This article aims to describe the paradox of distance learning in Brazilian universities created by the Coronavirus pandemic. With the spread of Covid 19, distance learning has proven to be the only way to avoid the interruption of academic activities at public universities. This situation constitutes a paradox. The neoliberalism that proved hegemonic in the 2018 Brazilian elections suggested distance learning as a tool which could reduce state investment in education and promote “emancipatory” ideological monitoring. Coronavirus has brought this approach into question. In fact, public policies which reinforce the government system, rather than dismantling it, have become necessary. The social block in power, which, before the Covid 19 emergency, viewed distance learning – now deemed wholly unsuitable for replacing the multiple resources offered by face-to-face teaching – as a tool which could free people from statism and replace in-person learning without disparities in quality, is, amid the pandemic, faced with the problem of rethinking distance education at university level, which is now inexorably associated with lockdown and imprisonment and the realm of disease.

Keywords

• Brazil
• pandemic
• distance learning
• neoliberalism
• statism
• e-learning