Considerations on the Crisis and Social Responsibility in Brazilian Universities and the Political and Social Situation Science

The article deals with the complex relationship between the State and the University, commenting on the crises related to hegemony, legitimacy and institutional issues. The study in question highlights the most intricate of these crises characterized as institutional, which foreshadows the transformation of the university as an autonomous institution into a university-organization directly linked to the interests of the state since this sets and determines the main contexts of the institutional crisis present in the university of contemporary Brazil. Regarding its methodological outline, the article is characterised as a bibliographical review through a scientific investigation of already published works. It discusses the socio-historical transformations that nowadays can be designated as fruits of globalisation and that have been implicated in the complex transformations that have occurred in higher education. The article concludes by pointing out the need to retake the social, political and cultural meaning of the university by developing knowledge, professional formation and extension activities. It points out the need for a profound revision of the role of the State in relation to education in general, the university in particular and Brazilian society.