Abstract
The article summarises and elaborates a norm-critical and intersectional study of the legal education in Gothenburg, and reflects on the broader pedagogical project of discussing the study among the faculty. A norm-critical perspective seeks to critically examine what is taken for granted and perceived as normal, and subsequently what is perceived as exceptions. An intersectional perspective acknowledges power structures as complex social structures with diverse origins. Together they provide a useful tool for analysing how different social positions are represented in the assignments of the legal education. The study showed, among other things, that men, Nordic people, adults and people from middle and upper class were overrepresented compared to the Swedish society as a whole. The study resulted in important discussions at the Department of Law in Gothenburg on whether representation matters, and if so what should be done. The article seeks to present the study itself and the theoretical thinking behind the study, and to discuss possible ways of dealing with its results.
Highlights
All the studies and projects conducted have concluded that the legal education that students receive at Swedish universities does not represent women and men nor other social positions, and that it is not necessarily easy to raise these issues at the departments and faculties
In the assignments there were a number of social positions that were highly marginalised with some of these hardly appearing at all
This means that the Law students very seldom encounter assignments that include characters from these positions during their compulsory courses in their legal education
Summary
All the studies and projects conducted have concluded that the legal education that students receive at Swedish universities does not represent women and men nor other social positions, and that it is not necessarily easy to raise these issues at the departments and faculties. All the aforementioned studies and projects have focused either solely on gender or mainly on the literature used in legal education. The study conducted at the University of Gothenburg was the first to include a broad norm-critical study of assignments
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