La Ley de Cuotas desde sus beneficiarios: un análisis de los discursos de estudiantes de cuotas sobre la Enseñanza Media Integrada

Abstract

In this article we analyze the focus groups carried out with quota students enrolled in the integrated high school of Instituto Federal Fluminense Campos Centro campus in 2016, in the courses of Industrial Automation, Buildings, Electrotechnics, Informatics, and Mechanics. As methodological support, we applied the French Discourse Analysis for the possibility of demarcating the implicit elements in the quota students' answers. Through the relationship between neoliberalism, individualism, and meritocracy, moreover the sociology at the individual scale of Lahire (2005), we argue that the discourse of quota students as responsible for “success” and “failure” are decisive to naturalize the deep school inequality among students enrolled in the system of quotas and those from the private school system. This way, the hegemonic neoliberal ideology grounds and legitimizes the (re)production of social hierarchies and inequalities not only of origin but also of destinies.