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Brazil has high levels of socio-economic inequality and an inequitable distribution of access to higher education. How much of this inequality is associated with race or class is an important question in light of the current debate over affirmative action and the suitability of race and social targeted policies. There are those who claim that racial disparities in the educational system are a result of students' social status and not a result of racism, while others believe race is an important factor that superposes the effect of class. This study uses national survey data from Brazil's Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (National Secondary Education Exam [ENEM]) to examine the relationship between race and access to higher education of high school students between 2004 and 2008. The results document a vicious circle which connects the schooling of the young with their race, socio-economic status, and university attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a national survey of formerly landless peasants residing in federal land-reform settlements in Brazil (Pesquisa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária- PNERA) confirm that the Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra- MST) has been far more successful than other settlement movements in assuring a better quality of life for its members. This superior performance is attributed to an organizational structure that demands and assures membership involvement, and a commitment to participatory education in an environment that fosters and supports MST's goals and objectives. MST's members have higher self-perceived social status than members of non- MST movements, have better residential environments and more material possessions, and experience an education that emphasizes the movement's principles of social justice, radical democracy, and humanist and socialist values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]