Escola, epidemias virais e o sistema do capital

Abstract

This article analyses the relation between viral epidemics under capitalism, especially the current coronavirus pandemic, and school education. In order to do that, we have researched into the genesis of viral pandemics and highlighted how they are a direct result of the reproductive logic of capital. We have pointed out that they could have been avoided, as the risks of their occurrences have been known for a long time. We have also looked into the social function of education and the school in the reproduction of the capitalist society, showing how the school composes a fundamental part of the capitalism’s social reproduction, while also playing an important role as an market explotation’s area. We demonstrate that the current pandemic does not substantially change the social function that the school performs under the capital, nor the marketing character that it has. In conclusion, because of the nature of the capital, others epidemiological crises are going to be socially produced, answering the capital’s reproductive needs, and the school is going to continue working, even if it means serious health risks.