Cultural diversity at risk: educational neocolonialism and the resistance of the peoples of the Amazon

Abstract

The central issue of this research is the proposed revocation of the Modular Teaching Organization System (SOME), which threatens the right to education of the peoples of the Amazon. Its relevance lies in highlighting the risks of educational neocolonialism and the urgency of critical decolonial and intercultural policies. A qualitative methodology is adopted, based on a historical-social review of the legislative process of Law 10.820/2024, through document and content analysis, grounded in decolonial theory. The findings indicate that revoking SOME would result in cultural erasure and the violation of the right to education of Indigenous peoples, Quilombolas, riverine communities, and rural populations. The mobilizations of ethno-racial and critical intercultural movements also stand out as a context of practice, in line with Ball’s (2001) policy cycle approach. The study concludes that collective resistance reaffirms education as a right and underscores the need for plural, contextualized, and decolonial public policies.