Abstract

PAVAN, Jorge Victorio et al. The Construction of Differences in the University Environment: A Study Using the Social Theories of Learning. REDIE [online]. 2008, vol.10, n.2, pp.1-16. ISSN 1607-4041.

Over the last several decades, rising unemployment and low salaries have caused many to blame "the others" for the crisis, fostering a negative attitude in the population toward outsiders. In this situation, the immigrant is seen as a threat, an illegitimate appropriator of the few social resources still available. This study approaches the construction of "the other" as inferior and stigmatic, using the point of view from social theories of learning. The methodology was a qualitative study of a biographical account without a complete sequence, using the sample randomly. The ancestors of our subject come from the pre-Incaic culture, the Huancas (from which his fictitious name, Wanca, was derived). He is a student from Huancayo, Peru: olive-colored skin, short height, protruding cheeks and dark hair. Her account reveals the construction of cultural and racial stereotypes in the university space, showing as well how these stereotypes are attributable to certain situations. In addition, studying the stigmatization of the immigrant facilitates an analysis of the modes of exclusion of other social groups due to their poverty, lack of education, or age.

Keywords : Social theories; learning; qualitative research.

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