ENTRE DISPUTAS E CONQUISTAS: UMA HISTÓRIA SOCIAL DO PROCESSO DE INTERIORIZAÇÃO DA UFCG NAS CIDADES DE CUITÉ E SUMÉ (2002-2010)

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the historical process of the internalization of the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), based on its separation from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), Campus II, thus generating a new educational profile through the creation of new campuses in microregions of Paraíba. In this research, the initial object of study is the Federal University of Campina Grande between 2002 and 2010. During this period, there was also a transitional policy of institutional separation, making it independent from UFPB. Over the course of eight years, a series of changes took place within the newly established UFCG, especially in the administrative sphere, aimed at expanding higher education in the Cariri and Curimataú regions of Paraíba. From this perspective, the research raises the following problem: what were the main challenges reported in Jornal da Paraíba during the process of internalization, and how did the presence of UFCG in those regions impact the socio-educational reality, based on current enrollment data in the cities of Cuité and Sumé? To address this, the study draws on social theory concepts proposed by Pierre Bourdieu, namely “cultural capital” (1989) and “social reproduction” (1982), as well as ideas about the university and its dilemmas discussed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2011), in addition to contributions from Thompson’s theory for a social history of schooling. A comparative method is employed to identify differences between traditional higher education structures and the newly created campuses, as well as to analyze how the two cities received these new institutions. Furthermore, the study proposes to examine the discourses of UFCG administrators who were responsible for the institutional separation and the new configuration of the university in that historical context.