Modulation of the conduct of people with disabilities in the Brazilian context of inclusive education

Abstract

In this paper, we have analyzed how investments in the modulation of the conduct of people with disabilities have been made by the school inclusion policy in the Brazilian society since the last decade of the 20th century. In order to perform such analysis, we have used the notions of government by Foucault (2008a, 2008b), and modulation by Deleuze (2013) as analytical tools. By considering a group of legal documents that both guide and regulate the inclusion of people with disabilities in the regular school, we have attempted to show that the practices of the Brazilian State to act on the modulation of the conduct of those people aim to constitute subjects that are able to invest in the development of their individual competences along their educational process. In line with the school inclusion policy, organized in the arena of the neoliberal governmentality, different strategies have been used to minimize the social risk of exclusion of those subjects. Hence, the actions taken by the State are structured as a net and they articulate different sectors to guarantee equal conditions of access, participation and development to everyone and, thus, enhance participative, autonomous and learning forms of life throughout their lives, with flexible conducts and able to adapt to the continuing changes of our time.