In the past few years, social movements such as organizations of workers; small farmers in solidary economy projects; women, indigenous and African Brazilian's movements; and neighbourhood associations in the Brazilian society have been questioning, through their actions and discourses, the public nature of public schools responsible for the education of today's Brazilian citizens. This article presents the partial results of a research that seeks to establish to what extent public schools responsible for educating citizens in Brazil are specifically public in their nature, in comparison to the experiences of the dominant societies of Western modernity. In view of the challenges brought about by the profound economic, social, political and cultural transformations currently taking place, how can public schools provide an answer to the demands of social movements?
Social Movements; Citizenship; Public School