Washington Galvão
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Ph.D. Candidate, Comparative and International Development Education, \University of Minnesota
Conference Participation
Emerging Scholars: An Interactive Conversation on Higher Education and Building Solidarity
Youth Leadership in the 21st Century
Paper: Entre Esquinas do Gueto e Aldeia Pau Brasil: Decolonizing Affirmative Action in Brazil
Abstract: This paper examines the qualitative experiences of Black and Indigenous first-generation graduates who benefited from affirmative action policies at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES). Centering the narratives of these former students as they navigated affirmative action policies, this study positions their stories as a critical lens for understanding the policy's relevance and impact on epistemic rebalancing. These graduates emerge as essential narrators of educational transformation, illuminating how social mobility is negotiated, contested, and racialized within Brazilian higher education. For the comparative education field, this work contextualizes the role of universities in challenging the status quo, promoting educational access, and fostering inclusion in democratic societies. Beyond the Brazilian context, this study contributes to broader discussions on policy reform and educational remediation in societies that have historically marginalized groups to sustain colonial legacies.
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Biography: Washington Galvão (he/him) is a doctoral student in Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. He is from Vitória, Espírito Santo, where he was born and raised in the Bela Vista community. He attended public education, earned his bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (with an academic exchange at the Federal University of Bahia in Salvador), and worked as a teacher in Espírito Santo's public school system. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in Comparative and International Development Education, where he compared Indigenous teacher education programs in Brazil and Canada. He is currently researching the experiences of Black Activism and public universities in Brazil through the quota system.
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