‘TAMA’ economics under siege in Brazil: the threats of curriculum governance reform

This article considers the curriculum framework governing economics teaching in Brazilian higher education. We assess economics teaching according to three criteria: its pluralism or monism regarding economic theory and method; its treatment of economics’ wider socio-political dimensions; and its educational philosophical approach and goals. Against these criteria we conclude that Brazilian economics has been pluralist and open, particularly in comparison to other international governance frameworks. However, we argue that Brazil’s prevailing TAMA – There Are Many Alternatives – framework is threatened by strong disciplinary, institutional and wider political pressures with both domestic and global roots. These forces may force Brazilian economics teaching to be less open, becoming more like the existing hegemonic approaches, such as those operating in Anglo/US systems. These changes partly reflect the neo-liberalization of higher education.