Citizenship at Risk: Education in the Siege of Neoliberal Rationality

Abstract

The article investigates the implications of neoliberal policies in Brazilian education, highlighting how the 1988 Constitution, the 1996 LDBEN (2018) and the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC-EM) and other legal frameworks that reflect an approach that prioritizes technical capital formation human. The objective is to critically analyze how these policies influence citizenship formation, comparing the theoretical perspectives of authors such as Libâneo, Freire, Pimenta and Saviani, who defend an education aimed at emancipation and the full exercise of citizenship. The methodology used is a theoretical-conceptual analysis, combining classic and contemporary references from the philosophy and sociology of education with (Brazilian legal) documents. Associated with a critical approach, this methodology allows us to problematize the tension between training for the job market and the promotion of democratic, active and inclusive citizenship. The results indicate that, although the documents chosen for analysis mention the importance of citizenship and democracy through critical reflection, the emphasis on marketing skills tends towards comprehensive and civic education. For the neotechnicist bias. Thus, neoliberal logic, by transforming education into an instrument of productivity, compromises the development of conscious and engaged citizens. Which reflects on the exercise of citizenship through democracy and reinforces the need for a critical pedagogy that promotes reflection and transformative action, of oneself, others and society.