Bildung und Gegenhegemonie in peripheren Transformationsprozessen: Das Beispiel der bolivarianischen Bildungspolitik in Venezuela

Abstract

The Bolivarian Process in Venezuela conceived of education as a key objective and instrument at the same time. In fact, the country experienced an extraordinary educational expansion in favour of the poor. This greatly supported political agency and democratic participation. However, Bolivarian education policies did not succeed in overcoming the hierarchical stratification of the education system. With the beginning of the economic and political crisis educational inequalities were rising again and undermined the empowering effects of the educational reform. This article analyses Bolivarian education policies from the perspective of their relation to a counterhegemonic process. It examines the formal school reform, the non-formal educational missions and the higher education policy as to their empowering as well as stratifying effects. It draws conclusions on the general role of education for (counter)-hegemonic processes.