B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Constructing the Identity of a Lawyer
Authors: Johanna Niemi
Editors: Mattias Derlén, Lena Landström, Nina Nilsson Rådeström
Publishing place: Umeå
Publication year: 2020
Book title : Vänbok till Ulf Israelsson
Series title: Skrifter från Juridiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet
Number in series: 44
First page : 229
Last page: 235
Number of pages: 7
ISBN: 978-91-7855-317-4
ISSN: 1404-9198
Web address : http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1472629&dswid=-8484
The chapter is a short excursion into the lawyer’s self-identification. Law is a profession associated with a strong professional identity, which is to a high degree imbibed during the legal education. The dominant positive doctrine of law underlining the objectivity, impartiality and neutrality of law and lawyers is an important part of legal education and the self-understanding of the legal profession. However, critical theories of science have challenged the possibility of an objective assessment without placing the assessor in contexts of power, space and time. Also in contemporary theory of learning in higher education, knowledge is seen as constructed in social practices and discourses- The chapter includes a discourse analytical reading of a legal textbook to analyse how the text represents the legal profession. The chapter argues that the profession needs self-reflection on their identity.