Movimentos sociais e educação superior: a atuação do MST na promoção da justiça cognitiva

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to discuss the actions of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in the field of higher education as part of the struggle for the defense and promotion of public policies and cognitive justice. More specifically, the study aims to: (i) understand the reasons that led the MST to insert higher education in the strategic fight agenda; (ii) to contextualize the main policies, initiatives and actions of the MST in order to promote higher education for its members and the right to education; (iii) to characterize the main initiatives, courses and cooperation agreements developed with research and higher education institutions destined to offer extension, undergraduate and postgraduate courses; and (iv) to analyze the performance of the MST in the process of creating the UFFS and in the definition of the institutional project of the nascent University. In the methodological aspects, the study was developed through documentary research and interviews, where the subjects' perceptions were analyzed through the Ecology of Knowledge of Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Some of the main leaderships that have been working for social movements in the South region for decades have been interviewed. The research shows, among other things, that: (i) the MST reinvented itself and invested in higher education as a strategy for political survival; (ii) the New Social Movements (NMS) in Brazil inserted higher education in their agendas of struggles as a project of scientific formation for their militants; (iii) the search for partnerships and agreements with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) brought NMS, especially those in the field, to participate actively in the political directions of Brazil; (iv) the performance of the MST was fundamental in the process of construction of the UFFS. In fighting for the expansion of the public university, social movements have been combating the elitism of access to higher education and, at the same time, promoting social and cognitive justice.