The Alternative University: Lessons from Bolivarian Venezuela

Based on extensive fieldwork in Venezuela, The Alternative University outlines the origins and day-to-day functioning of the colossal effort of late President Hugo Chávez's government to create a university that challenged national and global higher education norms. The book historicizes the Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV), the vanguard institution of the higher education reform, and examines the complex and often contradictory and quixotic visions, policies, and practices that turn the alternative university model into a lived reality. It offers a serious contribution to debates on the future of the university in the era of neoliberal globalization, and outlines lessons for policymakers and educators who aspire to develop higher education alternatives.