Paulo Freire - Compositor de muitos destinos... Tambor de todos os hinos?: um estudo de múltiplos casos de ONGs brasileiras atuantes na educação que se reivindicam freireanas...

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the extent to which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that claim to be Freirian, represented here by the NGOs Centre for Popular Education and Culture (CECUP), Fé e Alegria/RS and Paulo Freire Institute (IPF), contribute to the counter-hegemonic role of the working classes. The choice for these institutions can be explained mainly by the fact that they claim to be Freirian in their goals or mission statement reported on documents and on their institutional websites. Research tools included a semi-structured interview, forms on the profile of participants in the research, structured observation, documental and bibliographical survey. In the critique of the study 'corpus', it is emphasized that the research procedure used was content analysis. That said, the research presents the historical background, objectives, the Freirian constituents identified as central to the counter- hegemonic cultural actions undertaken by NGOs, according to the participants in the research, and the current challenges faced by the NGOs surveyed, which, by aiming a regime contrary to neoliberalism, seek not to assume the role of the state, seeking 'partnerships' to reaffirm this role and remind the state about its social functions in a diverse range of actions, from global to local. They seek, in their actions, to form leaders and subjects to act at the 'Community', 'local' or 'global' levels, as well as to achieve popular participation in governance, sustainable development, and social control. However, their educational practices were not fully centered on the formation of class consciousness, a 'class for itself', and therefore their struggles aim social changes and not structural transformations of society yet. The prospects of counter- hegemonic action, indicated by the participants in NGOs, albeit critical, do not give centrality to the concept of 'awareness', and some characteristics of counter- hegemonic cultural Freirian action do not appear significantly in their speeches. They point to the challenges of fundraising from funding agencies and of ensuring transparency in the accountability to society. Thus, we conclude that the cultural activities undertaken by NGOs are important to some social changes, yet isolated today, and in several key moments for class organization, but they are not sufficient to trigger changes in the national context, far yet from the social transformation discussed here. Thus, the thesis defended here is that NGOs have historical pathways that influence and are being influenced by social circumstances and by theoretical and methodological perspectives partly consistent with Freirian thinking, but their practices are not sufficient to contribute to the counter-hegemonic tribute of popular classes.