Social Inclusion and Law Related Education

Abstract

Law Related Education (LRE) can be an effective solution of the social exclusion of the poor, disadvantaged, or minorities. One main purpose of LRE is to facilitate participation of varieties of people in the civil society. The contemporary LRE movement in Japan is, however, not sufficient to fulfill the purpose, because it is still too much bound by the school-education and nation-state paradigm. It is the paradigm that recidivates the social exclusion generationally. Sociology of education points out that cultural and social stratification is regenerated through the school-education systems. We need to find alternative paradigm of LRE, which focuses on connection between the excluded people and the society. When denied judicial access or outreach, or when fleeing institutional or social engagement, what could be the primary cause? Here, clues are found in a knowledge frame work that confirms and acknowledges self-affirmation. Another approach, which binds welfare, judiciary, and education together, may be attained through so-called cause or pro bono lawyering. Though it is not necessarily an education-oriented activity, de facto function thereof is worth considering. Whilst keeping contemporary LRE firmly in mind, this piece has sought to highlight the existence of new possibilities for legal education through adopting a perspective of social inclusion.