Educação e política na obra de Karl Marx

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the relationship between education and politics in the work of Karl Marx, seeking to understand the Marxian positions on the political aspects of education, the educational aspects of politics, and to identify similarities, differences, and interrelations between these two fields of social life. For this purpose, an immanent reading was carried out of six texts by Marx: Instructions for the Delegates of the Provisional General Council, The Different Questions; On Education in Modern Society; Chapters 14 (The Division of Labour and Manufacture) and 15 (Machinery and Modern Industry) of Capital; Critique of the Gotha Programme; The Communist Manifesto; and The Civil War in France. The analysis aimed to extract from these works Marx’s conceptions of politics and education — particularly formal education, which is the form most explicitly discussed by Marx. To determine the relationship between these two domains, the study took as its guide the few passages in which Marx directly addresses the topic, and conducted a comparative analysis to identify connections between education and politics in Marxian thought. The results indicate that Marx understands education as determined by the economic and political relations characteristic of each mode of production. The critique of the social division of labour under capitalism emerges as the central core of his educational proposal: the integration of education and labour in the formation of multifaceted individuals. Politics, on the other hand, is conceived as a historically necessary mediation toward human emancipation, though it must ultimately be overcome with the abolition of social classes. We conclude that Marx establishes a relation of mutual implication between education and politics. For Marx, education has a reproductive function within society and therefore fulfills a primarily economic role — serving a political function only indirectly. Yet human emancipation is a process that depends simultaneously on economic and political conditions. Without a certain degree of economic development, of which education is an essential part, it is not even possible to pose the political tasks of socialist revolution. Conversely, without the destructive role of politics, economic development — including education — cannot be freed from the constraints of capital reproduction. In the emancipatory struggle, politics predominates over education; but education transcends politics in human existence, and thus in communist society. The dissertation also provides a review of theses and dissertations that have examined Marx’s thought on education in Brazil, with the aim of identifying the main debates, points of consensus, and gaps within the selected works. This bibliographic survey indicates that most of these studies either neglect or insufficiently address the central themes of education in Marx, focusing instead on Marx’s political positions, on other Marxist authors’ views on education, or on common-sense conceptions of education approached through a Marxian method. Finally, the dissertation engages critically with commentators on Marx’s educational thought, such as Manacorda, Nogueira, and Lombardi, as well as with authors like Freire, Saviani, and Mészáros, interpreting them through the lens of Marx’s own positions. The aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of Marxian educational thought and its implications for contemporary debates.