INTERNATIONAL DIVISION OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE DECLINE OF HUMAN SCIENCES: THE SCENARIO OF PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE NORTHEAST OF BRAZIL

ABSTRACT This article aims to analyze the scenario of the offer of undergraduate courses by professional training area of private higher education institutions in the Northeast region of Brazil and its correlation with the conditions of the knowledge economy. In order to obtain a clear idea about the quantitative universe of the courses offered, we used the database on higher education institutions and e-MEC undergraduate courses. We found that Brazilian higher education experiences a prominence of the private sector, as well as the predominance of the offer of higher education courses centered on profitable areas for capitalist accumulation, and the consequent subalternization of human sciences due to the submission of education to economism linked to the globalization movement and the emergence of the knowledge economy.