Dissenting Opinions: Conceptualizations of Democracy, Justice, and Representation in Dialogues of Diverse Learners

• In Event: Roundtable Session 39
  In Roundtable Session: Voice, Dissent, and Language Ideology

Abstract

This paper considers the ways that “justice” and “representation” and “democracy” were developed over time by a group of aspiring law school students. Participants were undergraduates, from groups identified as “underrepresented” in US law schools, with interests in legal careers. At meetings, they discussed experiences entering discourse communities and communities of practice associated with law. Understanding learning through identity trajectories has proven valuable for educational and developmental psychology, and the need for attention to experiences of learners from non-dominant groups has become an imperative for socially responsible research. This paper offers an in-depth look at how one group conceptualized their developing identities as scholars and social justice advocates while they challenged or resemiotized their ideas of justice, representation, and democracy.

Author

• Courtney Hanny, University of Rochester & SUNY Buffalo