Institutional Racism and the Legal Field

Limits, Expectations and Potentialities of Knowledge Production about Race in Brazilian Universities

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8966/2024/75948i

This article is derived from a larger research project that problematized the implications of the different approaches to anti-racism adopted by state institutions, grassroots social movements, and universities, considering the analysis of knowledge production processes about race, racism, and anti-racism. For this study we analyzed speeches from seven interviewees, - three law students (black), - two women and one man and four law professors (one black and three white) from two universities located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2018. Among the topics covered are academic, curricular, and epistemological cultures in relation to academic training in Law, considering studies of ethnic-racial relations (race, racism, and anti-racism), legal education and Human Rights. In this approach we work with the theoretical perspectives of Achille Mbembe, Ana

Flauzina, Pierre Bourdieu, Charles Hamilton, Frantz Fanon, Stokely Carmichael and Thula Pires. The method includes semi-structured interviews, anchored by Teun van Dijk's critical discourse analysis. This approach reveals that the expectations and limitations for studying and aiming for certain positions do not only depend on the course the student attended but are determined by institutional racism and various issues related to racial, economic, cultural, and social capital.

Keywords: Curriculum; Racism; Law; Race; University.