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ChangingSocietyUsingWordsTalk 11 - 28 Mar 2009 - Main.KeithEdelman
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| | Prompt: (1) In terms of effecting social change with words, what can lawyers accomplish that novelists or journalists cannot? (2) If lawyers possess a unique ability to effect social change, does it stem from their knowledge of, and proximity to, power structures?
Authors and journalists effected grand-scale change by laying the groundwork for many prominent social reforms and by successfully shaping American public opinion | | | Alternatively, this perception may have less to do with actual power than with the relative visibility of writer/journalist achievements vis-a-vis attorney achievements
-- MichaelHolloway - 10 Mar 2009 | |
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One reason lawyering might be more effective in enacting social change is its proximity to enforcement. Many journalists have facilitated change, but ultimate enforcement is difficult. While the lawyer has the potential to use the power of the state against the majority, the journalist might need to convince the majority that change is required. For instance, assuming Professor Roubini had solutions as well as predictions, a lawyer might have been able to enforce change against the majority that believed the economy was in fine shape. As it turned out, of course, his ideas in 2006 fell on mostly deaf ears and little was done.
The lawyer must, of course, also be persuasive. Also, the journalist can shed light on issues and help the lawyer's cause. But when push comes to shove, it appears that the lawyer can more readily utilize the power of the state.
-- KeithEdelman - 28 Mar 2009 | | |
Attorneys possess more legitimacy and lay prestige than journalists which makes audiences more receptive to their attempts at societal change | | | Examples: advocating for a client at the present, pursuing class actions, negotiating settlements, collecting evidence, carefully crafting appeals, applying past experiences to future analogous experiences. | |
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