Univesity and critical thinking

Abstract

The text is presented in four parts. The first describes the dual and contradictory process of the University as an institution of the State and as a social movement, acting in a historical context. In this sense, the process of the colonial university and university reform are considered as the phenomenon of the adaptation of the University to the new times of capitalist development in the 20th century and the current challenges. The second part considers the phenomenon of commercialization of higher education, in tune with the system of domination and the privatization of patents and professional knowledge. The third section considers the developments brought by the process of political change at the beginning of the 21st Century in our América and the relative delay of the University regarding the new agenda installed in the region. Finally, some proposals to think about the challenges of the critical thinking in the University are considered.