Mechanisms of subalternity in capitalist education: The case of the Mexican educational system (1982-2024)

Abstract

This article is reflective and argumentative in nature, linking a specific yet diverse system —education— with an equally complex, heterogeneous, and ever-changing phenomenon, yet one identifiable in contemporary societies: subalternity. It aims to identify a series of shortcomings in the dynamics of educational institutions in Mexico during the period 1982-2024, related to socioeconomic relations that foster or encourage subalternity in various spheres of the capitalist world. This subalternity is subsequently "reproduced" through social behaviors that consolidate an ideological, political, and economic hegemony exercised by certain dominant social groups —not necessarily specific "classes"— within public schools in the broadest sense. The article analyzes four dimensions of subalternity —class, institutional, pedagogical, and of the educated— based on documentary and statistical evidence from official and academic sources.