Development Administration and the Expansion of Management Education in the Brazilian Context: a Study Based on the Trajectory of UESB's Administration Course

Abstract

The historical process of implementation, diffusion, and transformation of Administration courses in Brazil is a subject that still deserves attention. The teaching of management is an academic and professional field in constant evolution, influenced by global trends, local challenges, and economic and geopolitical dynamics. One example is the (re)emergence of Development Administration (DA), a subfield of Administration that aims to study the management of social relations of production, distribution, and consumption in countries, regions, places and/or organizations, in order to ensure the well-being of society (Santos et al., 2018). This article aims to establish the connection between Development Administration and the expansion of management education in the Brazilian context, based on a decolonial analysis of administrative thought, with emphasis on the trajectory of the Administration Course at UESB. This is a qualitative study applied to the trajectory of an Administration Course in the interior of the State of Bahia. The research relies on semi-structured interviews, documentary records, and content analysis, supported by Atlas.ti 23 software. Finally, the results reveal that DA continues to promote the expansion of management ideology, reinforcing a discourse that contrasts "us" – developed, civilized, and administrators – with "them" – underdeveloped and administered.