Public university in Brazil: a civil war battlefield?

Abstract

This article, produced within the scope of a multicenter study on mental health in the university context, emerges from fragments of statements by young university students gathered in conversation circles, as well as from reflections arising from readings related to the study’s theme. Although the expansion of access to higher education has brought new future prospects for young Brazilians, they point out numerous difficulties along their academic journey, which may be linked to the high rate of psychic suffering among students, expressed in the rising statistics of suicide and depression. The writing revisits certain features of coloniality, regarding the social position of public universities in the country. It also problematizes the effects of neoliberal discourses in framing the university as a space of civil war.

Keywords
University; neoliberalism; mental health; psychoanalysis; youth