Critical Theory

Critical theory views the law as a tool of social, political, and economic reform oriented toward addressing social injustices. In attending to the social context of the law, critical legal theory draws on social theory, political philosophy, economics, and literary theory. One of the main tenets of critical theory is the elimination of unjust hierarchies of privilege that are created and perpetuated through educational practices, pedagogy, admissions, grading, job placement, awarding of research grants, conferences, publishing, and faculty or teacher recruitment, as well as interpretations of free speech principles. This position is outlined in one of the most influential critical legal theory texts, Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy (1983), by Duncan Kennedy.

All of these educational practices rest on a false ideology of rationalism, ...