The Production and Reproduction of Educational Inequalities in the Formation of Brazil’s Working Class
Abstract
Against the backdrop of the growing devaluation of the value of labor power and the persistence of the structural duality of the national education system, this article aims to analyse how profound inequalities in the Brazilian schooling process take shape nowadays. This discussion is supported by a set of empirical data from three state primary and secondary schools and one Youth and Adult Education center and highlights the conditions under which children and young people study, including the relationship between the process of social reproduction of their families and the logic underpinning the organisation of pedagogical work in schools.
Submitted: Dec. 29, 2025 | Accepted: Feb. 18, 2026 | Published May 21, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Educational inequality • Working class • Social reproduction • Schooling • State education
Copyright © 2026 Célia Vendramini, Adriana D'Agostini , Carolina Picchetti Nascimento , Sandra Luciana Dalmagro . This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/INQ/3035-0395/2026/03/010