Globalization and the Political Economy of the Brazilian Federal University

The purpose of this research is to explain how Brazilian higher education becomes a commodity of global capitalism through a focus on institutional culture change, which transforms academic independence toward a model of corporate-sponsored applied research. Brazilian federal universities are invested in S.T.E.M. education and are instruments in the country’s twenty-first century hegemonic aspirations. This national development strategy has ramifications for the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. Applied science and public-private partnerships (PPP) have irreversibly changed the trajectory of the Brazilian public university and its relationship to global capitalism. This research examines these changes to higher education and Brasília’s broader political agenda through a critical political economy perspective.