The political-cultural struggle for religious education in Brazil

Abstract

The struggle for secularization of public schools in Brazil dates back to the nineteenth century Republican movements. The Brazilian Constitutions and educational legislation express the conflict between secularism and religion in public education. The political-cultural actions of religious institutions were manifested mainly in democratic situations and in the political processes of preparing federal constitutions and guideline legislation for national education. The data collected demonstrates the growth of Christian educational organizations, their specialization and action within civil society. This study shows that faith groups have lost curricular space in basic education in Brazil since the 1930s.