Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Donkeys and Superteachers: Structural Adjustment and Popular Education in Latin America

  • Published:
International Review of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the past two decades Latin American governments have carried out dramatic social and economic transformations. The application of different programs of structural adjustment and decentralization has promoted deep changes, not only in the economic and social arenas, but also within the educational systems. The dominant tendency is to look for all the answers to educational problems in the realm of the "free market". However, contrary to what this situation may suggest, practitioners of "popular education" in the region have not lost all their vitality. This paper explores the challenges and possibilities of popular education by examining the educational field after the application of structural adjustment programs, presenting a critique of Gramsci's model of the organic intellectual as understood by many within popular education, and offering the specific example of a popular education workshop in Argentina.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcoff, Linda and Potter, Elizabeth, eds. 1993. Feminist Epistemologies. New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apple, Michael W. 1993. Official Knowledge. Democratic Education in a Conservative Age. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnove, Robert F. 1995. Education as Contested Terrain. Comparative Education Review 39(1): 28–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnove, Robert F. and Dewees, Anthony. 1991. Education and Revolutionary Transformation in Nicaragua 1979-1990. Comparative Education Review 35(1): 92–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, Stephen J. 1993. Education Markets, Choice and Social Class: The Market as a Class Strategy in the UK and the USA. British Journal of Sociology of Education 14(1): 3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbeito, Alberto C. and Vuolo, Ruben M. Lo. 1992. La Modernización Excluyente: Transformación Económica y Estado de Bienestar en Argentina. Buenos Aires: UNICEF/CIEPP/Losada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, Anthony and Farrington, John. 1992. Private Voluntary Initiatives: Enhancing the Public Sector' Capacity to Respond to Nongovernmental Organization Needs. Paper presented at the Twelfth Agricultural Sector Symposium: World Bank.

  • Buttler, Judith. 1993. Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • –––. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Will. 1996. The Potential for Donor Mediation in NGO-State Relations: An Ethiopian Case Study. Brighton, UK: IDS at University of Sussex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnoy, Martin and Castro, Claudio de Moura. 1996. Improving Education in Latin America Today: Where to Now? (Background Paper). Seminar in Educational Reform, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Inter-American Development Bank, 21 March 1996.

  • CEPAL. 1995. Panorama Social de América Latina. Santiago, Chile: CEPAI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, John. 1993. The State and the Voluntary Sector. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coraggio, José Luis. 1993. Basic Learning Needs and Grassroots Economy: The Role of Latin American NGOs in the “Education for All” Initiative. Quito, Ecuador: Instituto Fronesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • –––. 1992. Economía y Educacion en América Latina: Notas para una agenda para los 90. Quito: Instituto Fronesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortina, Regina. 1989. Women as Leaders in Mexican Education. Comparative Education Review 33(3): 357–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 1992. Education and Knowledge: Basic Pillars of Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity. Santiago, Chile: ECLAC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrell, Joseph P. 1995. Educational Cooperation in the Americas: A Review. In: Joaquin Brunner and Jeff Puryear, eds., Educación, Equidad y Competitividad Económica en las Américas: An InterAmerican Dialogue, Vol. 1, Key Issues (69–97). Washington, DC: Organization of the American States.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischman, Gustavo. 1997. Love It or Leave It: The Gendered Dimensions of Teachers' Education in Argentina. CIES 1997, Mexico City, 19 March 1997.

  • Fischman, Gustavo and Isabel Hernández. 1993. Educación Popular y Reestructuración Socioeconómica. In: Moacir Gadotti and Carlos Torres, eds., Educación Popular: Crisis y Perspectivas (141–158). Buenos Aires: Miño y Dávila.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiszbein, Ariel and Crawford, Susan. 1995. Beyond National Policies: Partnerships for Poverty Reduction. Washington: Inter-American Development Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, Paulo. 1989. Education for the Critical Consciousness. New York: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • –––. 1988. Pedagogía, Diálogo y Conflicto. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Cinco, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, Bruce. 1991. Growing Up Modern: The Western State Builds Third World Schools. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadotti, Moacir. 1994. Reading Paulo Freire. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • García Canclini, Nestor. 1995. Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity. Christopher Chiappary and Silvia L. Lopez (Translators). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, Rob. 1992. Citizenship, Education and Democracy. British Journal of Sociology of Education 13(1): 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. New York: International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, Mark. 1995. Democratization and Decentralization in Colombian Education. Comparative Education Review 39(1): 101–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Held, David. 1995. Democracy and the Global Order. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ilon, Lynn. 1995. The Changing Role of the World Bank: Education Policy as Global Welfare. Paper presented at 39th Annual Meeting, CIES, Boston, March 1995.

  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 1994. Summary Report of the Conference on Strengthening Civil Society. Washington, DC: IDB, 12 September 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • IRELA. 1995. Poverty in Latin America: Causes and Consequences. London: IRELA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isuani, Ernesto, Vuolo, Ruben Lo and Fanfani, Emilio Tenti. 1991. El Estado benefactor. Un Paradigma en Crisis. Buenos Aires: CIEPP-Miño y Davila.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, Naila. 1994. Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London, New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lechner, Norberto, ed. 1991. Capitalismo, Democracia y Reformas. Santiago de Chile: FLACSO.

  • Lindquist Wong, Pia. 1995. Constructing a Public Popular Education in São Paulo, Brazil. Comparative Education Review 39(1): 120–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockheed Marlaine and Verspoor, Adriaan M., eds. 1991. Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. Washington: The World Bank, Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luke, Carmen. 1996. Feminist Pedagogy Theory: Reflections on Power and Authority. Educational Theory 46(3): 283–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaren, Peter and Lankshear, Colin, eds. 1994. Politics of Liberation: Paths from Freire. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, Raymond and Torres, Carlos A. 1995. Social Theory and Education. New York: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro, Juan Carlos, ed. 1994. Community Organizations in Latin America. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Hanlon, Rosalin. 1988. Recovering the Subject: Subaltern Studies and Histories of Resistance in Colonial South Asia. Modern Asian Studies 22(1): 222–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palma, Diego. 1995. La Educación Popular y las Políticas PÚblicas. In: Anke van Dam et al., eds., Cultura Política y Educación Popular: Principios, pragmatismo y negociación. La Haya: CESO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paviglianitti, Norma. 1991. Neo-Conservadurismo y Educación. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Libros del Quirquincho.

    Google Scholar 

  • Picon, Cesar. 1996. State and Civil Society in the Perspective of Adult Education in Latin America. In: Paul Wangola and Frank Youngman, eds., Towards a Transformative Political Economy of Adult Education. DeKalb: LEPS, Northern Illinois University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, Thomas S. 1991. A Political Sociology of Educational Reform. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prawda, Juan. 1990. Decentralization and Educational Bureaucracies. Washington: The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pruyn, Marc. 1996. The Social Construction of Critical Student Agency in One Adult Literacy Classroom. Ph. D. diss., University of California.

  • Przeworski, Adam. 1991. Democracy and the Market. Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimers, Fernando. 1990. Deuda Externa y Financiamiento de la Educación. Su impacto en Latinoamérica. Santiago: UNESCO-OREALC.

    Google Scholar 

  • –––. 1991. The Impact of Economic Stabilization and Adjustment on Education in Latin America. Comparative Education Review 35(2): 319–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samoff, Joel. 1994. Coping with Crisis. London: UNESCO-ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmukler, Beatriz. 1992. Women and the Microsocial Democratization of Everyday Life. In: Nelly Stromquist, ed., Women and Education in Latin America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, John. 1992. Teachers' Works and Politics of Reflection. American Educational Research Journal 29(2): 267–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromquist, Nelly, ed. 1992. Women and Education in Latin America: Knowledge, Power, and Change. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

  • Stromquist, Nelly. 1996. Gender Delusions and Exclusions in the Democratization of Schooling in Latin America. Comparative Education Review 40(4): 404–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • –––. 1993. The Political Experience of Women: Linking Micro and Macro Democracies. La Educación 37(116): 541–559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunkel, Osvaldo, ed., 1993. Development from Within. Toward a Neostructuralist Approach for Latin America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

  • Teitel, Simon, ed. 1992. Towards a New Development Strategy for Latin America. Washington, D. C.: Inter-American Development Bank.

  • Tenti Fanfani, Emilio. 1993. La Escuela Vacía. Deberes del Estado y Responsabilidades de la Sociedad. Buenos Aires: UNICEF-Losada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tironi, Eugenio and Lagos, Ricardo A. 1991. The Social Actors and Structural Adjustment. CEPAI Review (44).

  • Torres, Carlos A. 1994. Paulo Freire as Secretary of Education in the Municipality of São Paulo. Comparative Education Review 38(2181–214).

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres, Carlos and Fischman, Gustavo. 1994. Popular Education: Building From Experience. In: Annie Brooks and Karen Watkins, eds., Learning Through Action Technologies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF. 1993. All for Education, Education for All. New York: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dam, Anke. 1995. Identidad de Género y Participación Social. In: Anke van Dam et al., eds., Cultura Política y Educación Popular: Principios, pragmatismo y negociación. La Haya: CESO.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Dam, Anke, Martinic, Sergio and Gerhard, Peter. 1995. Cultura Política y Educación Popular: Principios, pragmatismo y negociación. La Haya: CESO.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 12511 Mitchell Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90066, USA.

    Gustavo Fischman

Authors
  1. Gustavo Fischman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fischman, G. Donkeys and Superteachers: Structural Adjustment and Popular Education in Latin America. International Review of Education 44, 191–213 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003182026391

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003182026391

Keywords

Search

Navigation