Clinicalism: An Emerging Theory in Legal Pedagogy

Abstract

With growing global scholarship on clinical education, a theory in the field of legal pedagogy is emerging. Such a theory identifies clinical concepts, defines clinical education’s roots, goals, nature, values, content, significance, methods, design, planning, procedures, management, assessment, locus in curricula, critiques, challenges and relevance to various legal systems and theories. A theory for clinical education shapes up the entire notion of clinical pedagogy, makes it more plausible and accessible to diverse local situations. This article claims that there is an emerging theory in the field of legal pedagogy, springing from multiple theories, and placing them under one umbrella that can be called ‘clinicalism’. Clinicalism stems from one’s own clinical practice, comparative models, socio-legal studies, anthropology, philosophy, logic, political and legal theories. Clinicalism may also refer to the process of comprehending clinical practices attributable to existing theories; or to the methodology of theorisation by using tools of social sciences.