Neoliberals versus Post-Neoliberals

Neoliberals versus Post-Neoliberals in the Formation of Governance Regimes in Latin America’s Higher Education

By: Miguel Alejandro González Ledesma

Germán Álvarez-Mendiola

Location: Central, South America and the Caribbean Sea.
Population: 650 million
Countries: 20
Languages: Spanish, Portuguese and French

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​Latin America?

​Has anyone been to any of these countries?

Let us put your knowledge to the test...

Match

Some flags

Mexico

Brazil

Peru

Costa Rica

Uruguay

• Mexico

• Brazil

• Peru

• Costa Rica

• Uruguay

Multiple Select

Which of these languages is spoken in Latin America?

• French
• English

• Portuguese

• Spanish

Drag and Drop

What is the official language in Brazil?​ ​

Placeholder

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Portuguese

Spanish

French

Multiple Choice

What's the capital city of Argentina?

• Santiago
• Brasilia
• Lima
• Buenos Aires

Multiple Choice

What is the smallest country in Central America?

• Costa Rica
• Nicaragua
• Honduras
• El Salvador

Multiple Choice

Rio de Janeiro is home to the world's largest ______.

• festival
• parade
• celebration
• carnival

Multiple Choice

What percentage of the world's oxygen is created in the Amazon Rainforest?

• 10%
• 50%
• 75%
• 20%

Did you know that the Amazon Rainforest is located in 9 different countries covering a total of 5,500,000 km2?

​Fun Fact

Multiple Choice

The Capital city of Brazil is...

• Salvador
• São Paulo
• Rio de Janeiro
• Brasília

Multiple Choice

The Colombian flag is.

Multiple Choice

What does Costa Rica mean?

• Rich Coast
• Poor Coast
• Green Coast
• Sunny Coast

Multiple Choice

How many people are in Latin America?

• 800 million
• 1 billion
• 650 million
• 500 million

DISCLAIMER

• Neoliberalismo y PosNeoliberalismo: dos modos de aPreNdizaje uNa forma de adaPtacióN. formacióN de regímeNes de goberNaNza eN la educacióN suPerior latiNoamericaNa.

• NEOLIBERALS VERSUS POST-NEOLIBERALS IN THE FORMATION OF GOVERNANCE REGIMES IN LATIN AMERICA'S HIGHER EDUCATION

SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT GOVERNANCE IN LATIN AMERICA...

It includes forms of coordination between actors involved in solving collective problems. In the case of HE, the evolution of these forms must be analyzed from the way in which governments have directed change by granting greater prominence to market actors and greater decision-making autonomy to public actors.

• it reintroduces a stronger role for the state in economic planning,

• public investment, and social welfare programs

• emphasizes state-led development and greater control over natural resources.

Economic Policy Focus

• Focuses on free-market policies
  privatization

• deregulation, and reduction of state intervention in the economy

• promotes open markets, foreign investment, and free trade agreements.

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

• Places a stronger focus on redistributive policies, expanding social programs to reduce inequality and improve access to essential services.

• Governments often seek to address the needs of marginalized populations.

social welrafe

• Tends to reduce public spending on social welfare programs such as healthcare, education, and social security, viewing them as less efficient compared to market solutions.

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

Promotes an active role for the state in regulating markets, managing strategic sectors, and implementing policies aimed at achieving social justice and equitable development.

Role of the State

Seeks to minimize the role of the state in the economy, limiting its functions to protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, and maintaining macroeconomic stability.

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

Advocates for national sovereignty over natural resources, often renationalizing industries or increasing state control to use revenues for social programs and development projects.

natural resources

Encourages the privatization of natural resources and the entry of foreign companies into resource extraction industries.

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

Linked with left-leaning or progressive governments, such as those led by figures like Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), and Rafael Correa (Ecuador), focusing on anti-imperialist and pro-poor agendas.

Political Ideology

Associated with right-leaning or centrist political ideologies, favoring policies that benefit the private sector and reduce state intervention.

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

Match

Neoliberalism or Post-neoliberalism?

• maintaining macroeconomic stability

• free-market policies
  privatization

• sovereignty over natural resources

• right-leaning

• stronger role for the state

Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism

Post-neoliberalism

Neoliberalism

Post-neoliberalism

• Neoliberalism

• Neoliberalism

• Post-neoliberalism

• Neoliberalism

• Post-neoliberalism

​The authors argue...

"Our hypothesis regarding the political/electoral upheavals in several nations since the late 1990s, in the sphere of public policies and the governance of higher education, has been expressed in terms of the emphasis placed on a certain type of policies, rather than on radical changes in the steering of educational systems."

Neoliberalism vs post-neoliberalism

Neoliberal Reforms and Higher Education

The neoliberal era emphasized the privatization of education services, quality assurance mechanisms, and market-oriented behaviors in public institutions. Public universities began to adopt practices traditionally seen in private markets, such as increasing tuition fees and seeking private funding. Neoliberal policies led to an expansion of private education and introduced new forms of governance where the market played a key role.

Post-Neoliberalism and Hybridization

As post-neoliberal governments took office, their approach to higher education evolved. Rather than completely abandoning neoliberal reforms, they introduced adjustments to address "market failures" while keeping many market mechanisms intact. In this sense, a hybrid governance model emerged, where both the state and market actors shared governance roles in the education sector.

Privatization Models

Structural Reform of the State

- The state withdraws from direct involvement in funding and providing education.

- Private institutions proliferate, filling the gap left by reduced public education services.

- Market mechanisms, like student loans and private investment, dominate the sector.

- Public universities are forced to adopt competitive, market-like behaviors to survive.

Privatization Models

Privatization of the Supply and Reform of Public Universities

- Public universities remain but adopt market-oriented reforms.

- A competitive system between public and private institutions emerges.

- Private institutions are heavily promoted as a way to absorb increasing demand for higher education.

- Public funding is restructured, often linked to performance, which pressures public universities to be more entrepreneurial.

Privatization Models

Expansion of Low-Cost Institutions

- Low-cost private institutions dominate the market, often with minimal state oversight.

- These institutions focus on mass enrollment, often at the expense of educational quality.

- There is a significant gap between the quality of education in these institutions and that of more prestigious private or public universities.

- The state plays a limited role, providing little to no funding or regulatory oversight.

where public and private systems coexist but operate under different rules.

Dual Governance

where market mechanisms dominate, and public and private sectors are closely connected.

Private Integration

The governance regimes that evolved under these policies are divided into:

Loose Governance

where the state has little involvement, and private institutions dominate.

THE AUTHORS' CONCLUSION...

Despite ideological differences, the governance models adopted across the region do not directly align with political ideologies. Rather, the emergence of hybrid governance structures reflects the adaptation of neoliberal mechanisms to different national contexts, shaped by the balance between market forces and state interventions.

Word Cloud

One or two-word opinion about the presentation