Florestan Fernandes: a defesa da Escola Pública na Imprensa Periódica

Abstract

Inserted in the field of the History of Education, this research discusses the moment called Campaign in Defense of the Public School, which took place in the early 60’s and aimed at the defense of values such as the public, free, secular and democratic character of education in Brazil. Florestan Fernandes stood out in this process becoming known as one of the main spokesmen of the Campaign. The objective of this work is to analyze its action in the movement through publications in the Periodical Press in order to understand its position and glimpse the tensions, disputes and conflicts of this moment. The analysis of Florestan’s work through journals, in the period of the Campaign, aims to show that, in addition to teaching and writing, he also constituted as a spokesman at that time, fulfilling the important task of representing the advocates of the mobilization before civil society. In this way, the research also builds the characterization of Florestan Fernandes as an organic intellectual, from the conception of the Italian philosopher Antônio Gramsci. The sources come from two periodicals, O Estado de São Paulo and Folha de São Paulo. Besides the publications by Florestan himself, it is the analyses of other news and articles about him that also characterize him as one of the spokesmen of the debate, indicating the extent of its reach. Finally, the analysis carried out here intends to add to a series of works on Florestan Fernandes, contributing to the updating of the existing maps about him within the Periodic Press and presenting other other views and reflections about the period.