Higher education and South America

New developmentalism, new conservatism

Abstract

This work describes aspects of higher education trajectory in South America. It analyzes the previous and current demands for higher education and also the role of higher education for economic development, for the overcoming of social inequalities and for integration in South America. It discusses initiatives carried out from the first decades of the current century and promoted by center-left governments elected after several governments which implemented neoliberal-inspired economic and educational policies. The possible effects on higher education caused by conservative governments are analyzed, mainly due to the reversal of higher education expansion in South America. The work ends by analyzing the challenges for new center-left governments in the educational field and the possible strategies to promote new expansion of higher education and integration between the countries of South America, considering mainly the trajectories of Brazil and its geopolitical importance in South America.