Educação e Relações Internacionais: o Programa de Estudantes-Convênio – Graduação como instrumento da diplomacia brasileira

• Ano de defesa: 2025
• Autor(a) principal: Reis, Maria Luíza Dal Ponte
• Orientador(a): Sass, Odair
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação: História, Política, Sociedade
• Departamento: Faculdade de Educação
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Educação; Relações Internacionais; Cooperação Sul-Sul; Soft Power
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Education; International Relations; South-South Cooperation; Soft Power
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::EDUCACAO::TOPICOS ESPECIFICOS DE EDUCACAO
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.pucsp.br/jspui/handle/handle/45503

The dissertation investigates the role of education in international relations, focusing on the Undergraduate Student Agreement Program (PEC-G), created in 1965 and still in effect, which enables students from developing countries to pursue undergraduate studies free of charge at Brazilian Higher Education Institutions. The study analyzes the program both as an educational policy and, above all, as a diplomatic instrument of Brazil, articulated with the Brazilian Foreign Policy (PEB) and the logic of South South Cooperation and soft power. The research is based on three main approaches: (i) normative analysis of decrees, protocols, and ordinances that regulated the PEC G between 1965 and 2024; (ii) examination of reports and administrative data provided by the Division of Educational Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), with emphasis on student profiles between 2015 and 2024; and (iii) qualitative evidence collected through interviews with female students linked to the PEC-G. The study shows that, despite going through significant transformations over the decades, the PEC-G has always been immersed in political and symbolic disputes. Initially marked by concerns regarding national security during the military dictatorship, the program was redefined from the 2000s onward as a mechanism of regional integration and of strengthening Brazil’s positive image in the Global South, especially in Portuguese-speaking Africa. From a theoretical perspective, the study connects education to Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power (1990, 2004, 2005, 2025), understanding it as a form of attraction and influence that complements hard power in the construction of international legitimacy. The PEC-G is analyzed as a vector of cultural diplomacy and Brazil’s international projection, while simultaneously reproducing asymmetries typical of international cooperation