Like Teaching Fish to Swim: Social Reproduction in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
(2024) SOLM02 20241Department of Sociology of Law
- Abstract
- At the very core of this thesis is the motivation to better understand how the seemingly inherent connection between powerful social agents and judges is produced and reproduced. The thesis also seeks to contribute to the view that who judges matters. This is not only true for the identity of the institutions they comprise, but for the individuals they adjudicate on behalf of. As a result, there exists a sincere need to foster scrutiny and transparency in such socially consequential appointments. The connection between judges and the dominant class is dissected under the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and through the reflexive application of his research tools – particularly field, capital, and habitus. In order to explore the... (More)
- At the very core of this thesis is the motivation to better understand how the seemingly inherent connection between powerful social agents and judges is produced and reproduced. The thesis also seeks to contribute to the view that who judges matters. This is not only true for the identity of the institutions they comprise, but for the individuals they adjudicate on behalf of. As a result, there exists a sincere need to foster scrutiny and transparency in such socially consequential appointments. The connection between judges and the dominant class is dissected under the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and through the reflexive application of his research tools – particularly field, capital, and habitus. In order to explore the operation of these mechanisms of social reproduction empirically, this thesis employs a biographical method, heavily informed by Bourdieu’s work, which analyses the life trajectories of the individuals who have served as justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC).
It is demonstrated that, through strategies which enable the transmission and accumulation of symbolic capitals, objective positions of substantive legal power in the United Kingdom are typically the preserve of relatively homogenous and privileged social agents. This phenomenon is exemplified by admission to the sub-field of UKSC justices. This is made possible by the appointment process which ultimately favours individuals who share symbolic capitals with those in existing positions of power. These are typically gained through similarities in life trajectories, which result from similar educational and professional strategies. In the sub-field of UKSC justices, the thesis argues that these strategies are best exemplified by attendance at a fee-paying school in the British public school system; attendance at one of Oxford or Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge); and legal apprenticeship as a barrister at one of the historic Inns of Court in London. Increasingly so, the completion of a postgraduate degree at one of the elite law schools within the United States is also an effective strategy, given the ongoing globalisation of legal education systems. Ultimately, the appointment process which regulates entry to the sub-field of Supreme Court justices is identified as a key mechanism of reproduction within this powerful sector of the British legal field. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9152977
- author
- Barr, Marc LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOLM02 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Sociology of law, Bourdieu, Social Reproduction, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Trajectory
- report number
- D192888432
- language
- English
- id
- 9152977
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-19 12:52:07
- date last changed
- 2024-06-19 12:52:07
@misc{9152977,
abstract = {{At the very core of this thesis is the motivation to better understand how the seemingly inherent connection between powerful social agents and judges is produced and reproduced. The thesis also seeks to contribute to the view that who judges matters. This is not only true for the identity of the institutions they comprise, but for the individuals they adjudicate on behalf of. As a result, there exists a sincere need to foster scrutiny and transparency in such socially consequential appointments. The connection between judges and the dominant class is dissected under the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of practice, and through the reflexive application of his research tools – particularly field, capital, and habitus. In order to explore the operation of these mechanisms of social reproduction empirically, this thesis employs a biographical method, heavily informed by Bourdieu’s work, which analyses the life trajectories of the individuals who have served as justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC).
It is demonstrated that, through strategies which enable the transmission and accumulation of symbolic capitals, objective positions of substantive legal power in the United Kingdom are typically the preserve of relatively homogenous and privileged social agents. This phenomenon is exemplified by admission to the sub-field of UKSC justices. This is made possible by the appointment process which ultimately favours individuals who share symbolic capitals with those in existing positions of power. These are typically gained through similarities in life trajectories, which result from similar educational and professional strategies. In the sub-field of UKSC justices, the thesis argues that these strategies are best exemplified by attendance at a fee-paying school in the British public school system; attendance at one of Oxford or Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge); and legal apprenticeship as a barrister at one of the historic Inns of Court in London. Increasingly so, the completion of a postgraduate degree at one of the elite law schools within the United States is also an effective strategy, given the ongoing globalisation of legal education systems. Ultimately, the appointment process which regulates entry to the sub-field of Supreme Court justices is identified as a key mechanism of reproduction within this powerful sector of the British legal field.}},
author = {{Barr, Marc}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Like Teaching Fish to Swim: Social Reproduction in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom}},
year = {{2024}},
}