Internationalization of Brazilian higher education from the perspective of capital: a state-of- knowledge study and an analysis of CAPES-PrInt in light of World-Class Universities

This article critically analyzes the internationalization of Brazilian higher education from the perspective of capital, connecting the debate on World-Class Universities to graduate education policies, with emphasis on CAPES’s Institutional Internationalization Program (CAPES-PrInt). The study is a state-of-knowledge bibliographic investigation, based on Morosini, Kohls-Santos, and Bittencourt, combined with documentary analysis. The search and verification process gathered 31 potentially relevant publications, of which 24 formed the analytical corpus after the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The annotated, systematized, and categorized bibliography generated three categories: (a) meanings of internationalization, academic capitalism, and asymmetries; (b) World-Class Universities, rankings, and the standardization of excellence; and (c) policy induction, CAPES, and the institutionalization of internationalization. Documentary analysis covered Call No. 41/2017 and CAPES-PrInt monitoring documents published from 2020 to 2024. The analytical findings show that the program expanded institutional planning, mobility, and network building; however, its selectivity, emphasis on competitiveness, and dependence on previously installed capacities may reinforce inequalities. The article concludes that CAPES-PrInt did not implement a Brazilian world-class university model, although it incorporated part of its grammar, especially the pursuit of visibility, impact, and selective concentration of resources.