The import of foreign technology for the internal production of national products, made possible by the policy of substitution of imports, promoted, to a certain extent, the modernization and constitution of a national industrial park between the 1930s and 1970. In other words, the State (mainly from the Vargas era) created conditions to attract foreign capital, promoting the technological development of the country and creating a base industry (responsible for the production of first order inputs such as steel, fuel). It was believed that this policy was synonymous with development in the social sphere as well. The simple generation of employment in the wake of industrialization was understood as the main weapon against social problems.
However, the high levels of income concentration and its poor distribution persist until the days of today, are indicators that this path that has been attempted throughout the 20th century was not Successful. Until the beginning of the 2000s, not even the development projects of the military during the dictatorship between the 60s and 70s were enough. The crux of the matter is basically the fact that this imported technology to leverage national production was not compatible with the demand of the country's internal needs, that is, there was a disproportion between national socio-economic conditions and the type of goods produced by the large multinationals. In other words, the low purchasing power of Brazilians was not enough to demand production.
A technology was reproduced that was consistent with European or North American economies, which have always differed in many social contexts. Latin Americans. The consumption of this demand for "new technologies" was restricted to the wealthier strata, which represented the failure of the attempt to promote the country's socio-economic development through the modernization of parks industrial. Therefore, it is understood that both the attraction of capital and foreign technology are not synonymous with socioeconomic development, as this is only achieved when production national technology is compatible with the social demand of the country, a demand that is given not immediately, but configured throughout the historical process of formation of the society.
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It is curious to note that, alongside this issue of how to make Brazil a country with a solid and thriving economy, there has always been the problem of education. Exhaustively, attention is drawn to the promotion of educational training at all levels, especially higher education, given its direct relationship with productivity. Currently, in Brazil, there is talk of expanding the manufacture of products that require high technology such as called tablets, but the lack of professional engineers and technicians is an obstacle to be faced.
However, although Brazil still has several structural problems in both the social and economic sense, we must do justice to the reduction of social inequality that has occurred in recent decades, given the inclusion of thousands of Brazilians in the so-called middle class. Apparently, this would be the result not only of economic growth and production in absolute terms, but also of the promotion of social policies in recent years. However, in addition to the transfer of income through these programs, we are aware of the importance of investing in education to train young people and train workers.
Thus, tackling the problem of educational gaps in the country is not about trying to put an end to just a symptom of exclusion and poverty, but the generator and perpetuating process of exclusion. Therefore, the fragility of the argument of those who raised the banner of developmentalism as a way to end inequality (defending the The old maxim that it would be necessary to "make the cake grow and then divide the slices") was in the fact that they concentrated their efforts only in the economic focus of the issue, relegating the investments and necessary reforms in the social area of responsibility of the State.
Paulo Silvino Ribeiro
Brazil School Collaborator
Bachelor in Social Sciences from UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
Master in Sociology from UNESP - São Paulo State University "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"
Doctoral Student in Sociology at UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
RIBEIRO, Paulo Silvino. "Was developmentalism enough for Brazil in the 20th century?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/sociologia/o-desenvolvimentismo-foi-suficiente-para-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.