A Situationally Sensitive Critique of the Space of Law School from a Queer and Trans Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33344/vol17iss1pp10-39Keywords:
oikeusteoria, critical legal studies, oikeustieteen opetus, valta, legal theory, power, law schoolsAbstract
In this article, I explore the challenges of radical queer and trans critiques of law and life in two Finnish law schools. Drawing on critical theories and personal experience, I demonstrate how the space of law school exercises power to silence and ”other” radical queer and trans energies. The bulk of this article focuses on three specific moments when this power is exercised: when speaking up, dressing up, and looking around. I argue that this power dynamic is made possible by the ”apolitical” theories of law and legal expertise according to which a great majority of law schools are still structured. I conclude the article with a gentle encouragement: we can and should enter these sites of power with the desire to resist the power dynamics of the “apolitical” space of law school. This article is written with that desire – to resist conventional expectations of legal and academic writing. The opportunities are manifold.
