Florestan Fernandes and public education in the National Constituent Assembly (1987-1988)

Abstract This text aims to discuss de struggles in the educational area in the National Constituent Assembly and its historical origins, following the theoretical and political ideas of sociologist and constituent deputy Florestan Fernandes. The challenge of breaking the democracy’s Gordian knot in its articulation with the public education agenda constitute the reading key used to follow Fernandes’ manifestations in the Constituent Assembly. The sources used were his articles in newspapers and his speeches in the Constituent Assembly, which are organized in collections and are available in the digital files of the Congress. In parallel with the four stages of the Constituent Assembly, we read Florestan Fernandes’ texts and discourses in a chronological path that followed its main moments. Thus, the analyzed material was organized into three core themes deeply related to the hopes and impasses of the constituent process: (i) Historical challenges of the Constituent Assembly; (ii) The constituent process, popular participation, and education; and (iii) The transacted transition and the limits of the “New Republic.” This last stage already shows the limits that the Constituent Process faced, which, again in Brazilian history, prevented the rupture of the Gordian knot of democratic reforms.