O debate político e social acerca da instrução de cegos no Brasil e na França nos séculos XIX e XX

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate the political and social debate triggered in Brazil and France during the 19th and 20th centuries that enabled the systematization of education for people with visual disabilities in both countries. The central problem lies in the critical analysis of this process of appropriation and adaptation, considering the social and political context of the period. The hypothesis is that elites, while coexisting with effective practices of exclusion and social control, legitimizing formal modernization and maintaining the real exclusion of a large part of the population, used education for people with visual disabilities as a symbol of civilizational progress. By investigating this past, the study seeks: 1) to understand why the development of Special Education in Brazil began with education for people with visual disabilities; 2) to investigate the foundational bases and continuity of specialized institutes in Brazil and France, highlighting their structure, permanence, and influence on the educational model; 3) to examine the influence of European congresses on Brazilian education for visually impaired people during the period, focusing on intellectual exchanges and institutional impacts; and 4) to analyze the social role assigned or delegated to people with disabilities at the turn of the century and its consequences in the present. The theoretical foundation is based on historical-dialectical materialism and Gramsci's philosophy of praxis, integrating authors from educational and social historiography, with emphasis on the analysis of historical and discursive processes that constituted the field of special education. The research is supported by document analysis, critical literature review, and examination of primary sources, incorporating Discourse Analysis as an interpretive procedure for educational practices. The results show that the introduction of the Braille system and the foundation of the Imperial Institute for Blind Boys consolidated technical and pedagogical advances, but reaffirmed assistentialist and social control practices, limiting the full emancipation of subjects. The structures of the past influence current practices, and the protagonism of people with disabilities still challenges institutional, technical, and cultural barriers. The study reveals that Brazilian special education is the result of symbolic and material disputes, configuring itself as a field open to transformation and social critique.