Open AccessChess game for affirmative action at UFRJ
Author(s) -
Marcelo Ney de Jesus Paixão,
Irene Rossetto
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
brasiliana
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2245-4373
DOI - 10.25160/bjbs.v6i2.97127
Subject(s) - affirmative action , diversity (politics) , action (physics) , politics , higher education , political science , race (biology) , ethnic group , social psychology , psychology , public relations , sociology , law , gender studies , physics , quantum mechanics
In this paper, we analyze the process that lead the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) to adopt affirmative action admission in the early 2010s. For a long time UFRJ was nationally considered the headquarters of anti-affirmative action. So, why did that University finally take that decision? Our analysis revealed that the debate on affirmative action in that university was entangled in a wider discussion on higher education reform. This finding can help us to understand fundamental aspects of the true spirit of the quotas approved in that university. In the mid-2000s, UFRJ officers underestimated the necessity to be prepared for the symbolic, cultural and political changes that the increasing diversity inside the student body would bring. How deeply the lack of a substantial reflection on race, ethnicity, gender and class may expose UFRJ community to a chronic incapacity to address those contradictions when they become evident?