University, society and politics

Abstract

After the 1974 Revolution, higher education in Portugal went through several phases. With the failure of the idea to construct a Marxist 'Political University', the Constitution of 1976, urged on by a society in the aftermath of Revolution, included several articles that oscillate between liberalism and socialism. Though the university was reorganised by decisions reached by the State, the idea of institutional autonomy was not lost. Beyond the university, the binary divide opened up the development of polytechnic education, which incrementally moved closer to university education. Constitutional liberalism opened the path for the rapid increase in private universities. The Catholic University saw its status as a private institution rise while at the same time becoming a semi-public institution. In such an ambiguous situation, a shift in paradigm took place, lead by the European Union. This shift was less the outcome of the Bologna Declaration than a process driven by the forces of globalisation, massification and, above all, marketisation of higher education. The expansion of university education and the development of scientific research did not alter the contradictions in either the Portuguese or European societies. Rather the contrary, a society that deems itself scientific and technological is today mired in a deep crisis, both economic and cultural.