“Dura lex sed lex”: law, social justice, and legal pedagogy

Abstract

This study focuses on analyzing the conceptions of law, social justice, and legal pedagogy from a pluralistic theoretical-epistemological perspective. A documentary analysis is conducted on the Pedagogical Project of the Law Course (PPC) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), aiming to emphasize the need to rethink the epistemological and pedagogical foundations present in the curriculum of this course. Although the current configuration of the PPC proclaims "humanistic education" and "social commitment" as fundamental principles of academic and professional training for graduates, it is argued that the PPC maintains its curricular structure based on the traditional and dogmatic conception of law. It is up to the epistemic communities, responsible for developing the political-pedagogical foundations of the course, to reflect on the legal pedagogy underpinning the curriculum, shaped both by national curricular policies and by demands from social groups advocating for social justice. The curricular production must reflect a political, social, and ethical stance of the epistemic communities, in harmony with other societal actors and academic segments, in addressing the challenges that condition professional education and practice in the field of law. The study concludes that the articulation between access policies and curricular production is essential to promote legal education that considers social and economic inequalities, intersected with cultural factors, in order to understand that distributive and recognition policies strengthen access to social and educational assets, fostering the construction of a society with social justice.