Through the trails of anarchist education: a panoramic balance of research in Brazil

Abstract

The present article intends to present a partial survey of the academic production on anarchist education in Brazil since the end of the 1970s and to propose a critical balance on the research and its theoretical and methodological approaches. From the first Marxist studies linked to the history of the working class to the profusion of recent works on anarchist thought and practice in education in Brazil, we analyze the path taken by researchers and perceive the consolidation of studies in the history of anarchist education. It also presents partial results of the Research and Extension Project “The Modern School in Brazil (1900-1930): Anarchism, Unionism and Pedagogical Rationalism” linked to the State University of Paraná – Campus Apucarana. Finally, some factors that contributed to the current scenario were identified: the effort of researchers and activists in the production of studies on the subject; the expansion of access to new documentary sources possible by digitizing part of the collection of state and militant newspaper libraries and archives; the increase of space in universities for professors to guide and researchers to dedicate themselves to the theme; and the action of autonomous groups and anarchist collectives in carrying out libertarian educational projects, in the production of events, publications and content on anarchist education.