Educational policies in southern South America:: a case study in the municipality of Porto Alegre, Brazil

This study investigates the educational policies implemented by three administrations (1993-2004) of the Municipal Department of Education, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The analysis indicates that these policies can be seen as spaces for the empowerment of new social actors. It also indicates that the act of valuing diverse knowledges and of giving voice to new and different social subjectivities is an initiative that, despite the singularity of each specific reality, is plural in the sense of suggesting new possibilities for political action. This demonstrates the possibility of constructing emancipatory educational policies, even in times of globalisation.