"Coalitioning" for quality education in Brazil: diversity as virtue?

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1 "Coalitioning" for quality education in Brazil: diversity as virtue? Anja Eickelberg Abstract Theory on civil society networks suggests that the development and maintenance of consensus and a collective identity between sometimes highly heterogeneous actors is a challenging but fundamental aspect of successful mobilization. Based on this consideration, I have explored the internal functioning and political impact of the Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education, a civil society network that unites non-governmental and semigovernmental organizations, social movements, teacher s unions and corporate foundations around the common goal to improve the quality of public education in Brazil. The case study confirms the significance of internal cohesion for political impact, and presents the CBDE as an example for a social network in which diversity, despite causing frequent tensions, is a virtue rather than a weakness. Introduction The Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education (Campania Nacional pelo Direito à Educação, CBDE) has been created in 1999 as one of the first of currently more than 100 national coalitions of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). The CBDE is the most plural and broad articulation in the area of basic education in Brazil today. Its political demands are based on the belief that the nation-state is the only entity capable of delivering free public education of high quality. It is noteworthy that enrolment numbers for public primary school in Brazil are almost universal since the year However, lack of educational quality leads to distressing indicators when it comes to grade repetition, drop-outs and learning achievements. From an economic viewpoint, Brazil could easily reform its public school system, however, the government continuous to spend a mere 4,3% of the GDP on education less than many Latin American countries. Although the CBDE has not been successful in pressuring President Lula da Silva to increase the education budget, there are a number of concrete achievements of the campaign which did or will contribute to the improvement of public education in Brazil 1. Furthermore, the campaign has become the principal nongovernmental source on education funding for journalists and 1 E.g. the implementation of a federal fund for basic education (FUNDEB), the definition of a student cost quality which is currently being discussed to become the principal reference for the federal education budget; a national conference of education held in April 2008 with broad civil society participation; the hosting of the global GCE assembly 2008 in Sao Paulo. 250

2 policymakers and managed to build up a significant support structure in the Ministry of Education and the National Congress. In terms of membership, the CBDE grew from initially 50 to more than 200 organizations which are today coordinated by a national executive committee headquartered in Sao Paulo, a board of 10 member organizations, and 19 regional committees. Theoretical Background and Methodology In recent years, the construction of networks between civil society groups in search of participatory forms of collective struggle for equality and social justice has exited much academic attention. Scholars agree that successful networking depends on the ability of these coalitions to establish and maintain consensus and a collective identity among its members. However there is a lack of detailed analyses of factors that foster and hinder the development of this internal cohesion. In response to this gap, I have explored the opportunities and challenges of cohesion and interaction among the members of the CBDE in a theoretically informed and empirically driven case study 2. I have taken a critical constructivist approach with a focus on explanatory interviews in which I have explored the internal functioning of the CBDE and its implications for the campaign s political impact. The study comprises a total of 25 in-depth semistructured interviews with members and affiliates of the CBDE, as well as politicians and journalists. In addition, I have reviewed various key government, campaign and media publications. Results: How history and flexibility matters The political impact of the campaign is, to an important extent, based on the campaign s ability to construct and aliment a collective identity between its board members. The CBDE board is representative for the campaign s diversity: it comprises four national NGOs 3, the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) and the Brazilian Movement for Infantile Education (Mieib), the National Confederation of Educational Workers (CNTE), the corporate Foundation Fundacao Abrinq, as well as the National Union of Municipal Education Secretaries (UNDIME) and the National Union of Municipal Education Councils (Uncme). Together these entities are responsible for the planning, evaluation, strategic decisions and direction of the campaign. Although conflicts do occur, there is agreement that this diversity is crucial for the political strength of the CBDE. According to a Brazilian government representative the campaign has a virtue. She unites very diverse movements from the area of education that rarely 2 The case study is the base of my 120-pages Master thesis (MSc International Development, University of Amsterdam, February 2009) 3 Action Aid Brasil; Ação Educativa; Centro de Cultura Luiz Freire; Centro de Defesa dos Direitos da criança e do Adolescente 251

3 dialogued before. It is difficult to reach consent, but whenever the board closes a deal and presents a proposal to the government, she has impact. 4 A look into Brazil s recent history helps to understand why social movements, NGOs and teacher s unions entities that oppose each other in many Latin America countries manage to dialog constructively in Brazil. As one campaign member explains, the dictatorship collapsed due to a strong street movement that involved people with very different ideologies. It was a moment of seemingly impossible union. Many entities of the CBDE board took part in this process, and we all understand education as a right. This progressive view is the base on which a minimum consent is built. 5 Opposition to the military dictatorship that had ruled Brazil since 1964 and was finally overthrown in 1985 was led by the Catholic Church and civil society groups, rather than the political class. The education movement played an important role in the democratization process, particularly through the Forum in Defense of the Public School 6. The forum was initiated and dominated by the teacher s unions 7, supported by NGOs, education councils and social movements 8, and had significant influence on the elaboration of the 1988 Democratic Constitution and the 1996 National Education Law 9. It dispersed when the unions got in crisis in the end of the decade; some member organizations would later join the CBDE. Besides the progressive view on education, the fight against military rule and, later neoliberal politics have generated the belief that flexibility and openness to dialog are crucial to built strength as a network. According to a former CBDE coordinator "the guideline is to recognize differences without suppressing identities, but working the concept of alliance. 10 The campaign is designed to facilitate collective decision-making and participatory, critical, and nonhierarchical processes of reflection and learning. Over the years, its members have learned to combine different views and negotiate interests between entities. With escalating political impact, however, tensions between the leading entities have been increasing. While the relationship between NGOs and teacher s unions within the CBDE had been cooperative initially, it has been erupted with the election of President Lula. A founding member explains: With (former Presidents) Collor, Franco and Cardoso we had the same enemy. When Lula assumed many union leaders went straight into government. So parts of the CNTE are less critical with the government and prefer to present themselves as interlocutor. 11 As a result, the 4 Interview parliamentary assessor, Brasilia, September Interview coordinator regional committee Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, August Fórum em Defesa da Escola Pública, FNDEP 7 ANPED, ANDES-SN, CNTE, UNE, UBES 8 E.g. Acao Educativa, UNDIME, MST 9 Lei de Diretrizes e Bases, LDB 10 Interview ex-coordinator CBDE, August 2008, Sao Paulo 11 Interview director Ação Educativa, Sao Paulo, August

4 unions are today internally fragmented and CNTE s participation in the campaign highly depends on the political situation. However, the importance of the unions remains unchallenged, since they have a lot of legitimacy, a huge social base, and many contacts in congress. The campaign cannot exist without the unions. 12 Another trouble spot is the landless worker's movement MST, South America's biggest and most influential social movement. The participation of the MST in the CBDE is as unstable as that of the unions, and their future in the board is subject to intense debate. The MST has been criminalized by parts of the Brazilian media and government, and is perceived as extremely radical within the conservative sectors of Brazilian society. As a consequence, the MST s membership in the board of the CBDE hinders, to some extent, the campaign s ability to receive financial support from national business foundations. The later refuse to support the MST, while the MST refuses to receive money from private businesses. The CBDE coordination deploys a very critical discourse towards the MST, but most board members remain supportive of the movement: If there exists an organization in Brazil that knows how to make politics, it is the MST. They exactly know the political conjuncture, how to radicalize, and how to comport themselves within this conjuncture. They have an excellent feeling for politics. 13 The instable participation of MST and CNTE does not only impede successful advocacy actions, but has a major impact on the campaigns reach into the states. Both organizations have a large social base whose support is a crucial for the social mobilization of the CBDE. As a consequence, the campaign currently suffers from a demobilized base and little political strength. A look at the trajectory of the campaign over the years reveals that the level of cohesion between CBDE members on national and local scales has always been highly related to its political impact. Three main phases can be distinguished: From board and regional committees were still under construction, and the CBDE was directed almost exclusively by the general coordinator, impeding any significant political impact. A further obstacle to political impact was the lack of a clear goal. With the formulation of concrete objectives 14 cohesion between state and national levels increased, with peaks in key moments of the elaboration process of the Fund for Basic Education (FUNDEB), which, consequently, have been strongest in terms of political impact. Since the approval of the FUNDEB in June 2007, regional participation has slowed down extremely, due to increasing disagreements about the campaign s relation to the Lula government and concrete conflicts of interest between the key member organizations. 12 Interview general coordinator BCRE, Sao Paulo, August Interview president CNTE, Sao Paulo, September E.g. the definition of the Student-Quality-Cost beginning in 2002, the elaboration of the fund for basic education FUNDEB and advocacy for the national education conference CONEB beginning

5 The conflicting parties are willing to solve the recently accumulating problems in collective reflection and negotiation processes which might lead to certain restructuration measures. All in all, members are optimistic about the campaign s future, as mirrored in the following statement: The Brazilian campaign is quite demobilized right now, but that s the typical reflux all social movements suffer from. I believe that she will soon walk again, as a powerful accumulation of very different individuals and groups which are bound by the belief that only educated citizens are strong citizens. 15 Conclusion: The significance of internal cohesion for political impact The experiences of the CBDE prove that cooperation and trust between traditionally antagonistic civil society groups such as social movements, NGOs and teachers unions is, to a certain extent, possible. Brazil has a long history of civic engagement for social justice out of which emerged the belief that groups with differing priorities and practices, but a common goal are capable to bring about significant social and political change when joining forces. However, the CBDE also shows that a too heterogeneous leadership bears the danger of internal conflicts that can significantly hamper successful advocacy and mobilization. The conviction of all members that conflicts can and have to be solved mirrors, however, that diversity within the CBDE is overall a virtue rather than a weakness. About the author Anja Eickelberg is a researcher for the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt) of the University of Amsterdam. She is currently involved in a comparative research project on the role of civil society advocacy in the defense of public education which explores the history and development of the Global Campaign for Education. 15 Interview secretary of basic education, Brasilia, September