Fostering "quiet inclusion": Interaction and diversity in the Australian law classroom

Abstract

Law schools and the legal profession in Australia have long been associated with social reproduction of the elite. Scholars have been inclined to reflect on the structural arrangements that sustain this association, which form one important dimension of its persistence. However, the ways people interact with one another can also entrench privilege, by indicating that the values, attributes, and views of some people are either accepted and wanted or are unaccepted and unwanted—quietly including or excluding. This sorting also happens in law schools and in legal practice, partly because of behavior modeled in law schools.