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The study of politics, power, and conflict in higher education is the object of this work. It analyzes the connection between political processes and change in higher education in a historical perspective by drawing from the case of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México .
This work attempts to contribute to the study of the relation between political processes and change in higher education. It constitutes an effort to explain why increasing demands have not produced rapid responses from the university. It tries to understand why this lack of response has generated internal and external tensions and conflictive dynamics. In addressing these issues I draw from a revealing case study and an alternative theoretical construct in order to generalize some patterns that will enable our understanding of other cases and institutions.
This dissertation examines the process of change at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in the presence of new internal and societal exigencies, from a historical perspective. It looks at power relations, political processes, and conflicts at the largest and most important single institution of higher education in the country. The study of this process at UNAM is enlightening because of the massive nature of this university, its centrality in Mexican higher education, and the opportunity to gather data on the nature of these conflicts and tensions.
In building this explanation, three issues of major relevance are addressed in this dissertation. The first issue is the construction of a conceptual model that will focus on change, a consequence of politics and conflict in higher education. An outcome of this is the exposition of the political nature of the UNAM and higher education organizations in general. The second issue is an effort to reassess the limits of University autonomy and the relation between the UNAM and the Federal Government in Mexico. The third issue is study of the process of change at the UNAM.