De-centering legal academy? Comparative perspective on women faculty and difference in Law Schools.

• Grant number: 15/21776-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: May 04, 2016
• End date: July 03, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Maria da Gloria Bonelli
• Grantee: Maria da Gloria Bonelli
• Host Investigator: Hilary Ann Kay Sommerlad
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Leeds, England

Abstract

This study looks at how the fragmentation of higher education models and the diversification of the social composition of faculty through the incorporation of women and difference have impacted teaching in the field of Law in Brazil, and compares with other international experiences, specially at the University of Leeds School of Law, U.K. The hypothesis is that this is part of a global process which, while producing a de-centering of legal academy, simultaneously engenders a certain homogenization of the field. The research seeks to identify such de-centerings which, although unable to eradicate inequality and domination, are not limited to the reproduction of fixed, hegemonic patterns. The fieldwork employs a qualitative approach, mingling case studies, observation, semi-structured interviews, use of documents and historical sources and the collection of secondary quantitative data.