Radicalism and Responsibility: An Introduction to Unbound
By Zinaida Miller and Brishen Rogers
It no longer seems revolutionary to say, as Duncan Kennedy did over twenty years ago, that “Law schools are intensely political places.” As Kennedy himself argues in this issue of Unbound, today’s law professors “have correctly and honestly internalized the irreducible political element in law,” and accordingly law faculties feature a rich pluralism of overlapping and conflicting methodologies, political positions, and legal-theoretical commitments.
But has this pedagogical shift done much to make these three years a less alienating or painful experience? We’re not so sure. Law school still trains us to see ourselves as technicians rather than agents; operatives rather than entrepreneurs; managers rather than provocateurs. Many students who arrive with visions of using the law as a tool for social transformation become quickly disillusioned and pessimistic about the possibilities for change, eventually leaving with a diminished sense of agency and an undefined sense of loss for ideals that, in the context of an inflexible system, have come to seem naive.
about 9 months ago
Yes, I agree to a point. For most of us the realities of a “technical degree” will hit us most in practice, as we realize that we will have to transform ourselves into entrepreneurs to keep the cash flowing. Whatever our professors may espouse politically, the fact still remains that passing the Bar is what most students will concentrate on.
Whatever ambitions we have of socio-political discourse, may only be applied in elected office. Then, we become “lawmaking machines” to promote our agendas or those of a party. Hardly very pluralistic, objective, or fresh!
Since I am an almost 50 year old law student with tax accounting and estate planning experience, I know that if and when I pass the bar, it will only be a less than academic formality to continue my career.
Regardless, the study of law is a good reminder of our Country’s Constitutional foundations, currently second to none, which give us good standards to live by and advocate. All the best to everybody!