Authoritarian governance and the university: Repression and social control in Brazilian higher education under the Military Dictatorship (1964-1988)

This article analyzes repression and social control in Brazilian higher education during the Military Dictatorship (1964-1988), examining how state power operated through an institutionalized system of surveillance, punishment, and ideological normalization. Grounded in theories of social control (Cohen, Garland) and Aróstegui’s concept of illegitimacy of origin, the study understands repression not merely as coercion, but as a bureaucratic and rationalized mechanism sustaining authoritarian order. The analysis draws on diverse documentary sources (repressive reports, military doctrines, surveillance records, and Ministry of Education archives) interpreted through a critical and comparative historical approach. The findings reveal institutional, political and ideological networks that structured control within universities, demonstrating how repression functioned as state policy aimed at reorganizing political and social life. The article also highlights the persistence of bureaucratic control and moral regulation beyond 1988, emphasizing the role of historical memory and critical awareness in resisting the normalization of authoritarian practices in educational life.