Reform at Mexico's National Autonomous University: Hegemony or bureaucracy

Abstract

Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM) is the most important higher education institution in this country. Although there seems to be broad consensus on the need for a profound transformation of this University, most attempts in the last 25 years have failed to generate the required reforms. The limitations and obstacles for university reform at UNAM are analyzed in this article. The established power relations and the bureaucratization process are identified as the main political and structural limitations for change. The dominating system at UNAM is analyzed in a historical perspective emphasizing the cultural elements in the conformation of the dominant discourse and alliance. Confrontation and conflict within the University and against external power structures are traced in this historical analysis and exhibited as permanent components in the modern history of UNAM. The existence of a legitimacy crisis in the governance structure of this University is argued in terms of the erosion of the prevailing dominating system, expressed in the open manifestation of inherent contradictions through social conflicts directed against the bureaucracy; the permanent challenge to rules, regulations and established procedures; the lack of academic leadership; and the internal dissent and the deficient articulation within the dominant block. Finally, the building of a new hegemony at UNAM (through a redefinition of the concept of university reform, the reconstruction of the social fabric, the establishment of new constituencies, a rebuilding of collegial relations, and the founding of a new pact with the Mexican State), is shown to be a unique path towards university reform.