TY - JOUR
T1 - London's legal elite
T2 - Recruitment through cultural capital and the reproduction of social exclusivity in City professional service fields
AU - Cook, Andrew C.G.
AU - Faulconbridge, James R.
AU - Muzio, Daniel
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The authors examine the ways in which recruitment and selection processes facilitate the reproduction of elites and elite cultures within City law firms. The research is based upon original research carried out during 2009, consisting of in-depth semistructured interviews, semiotic and content analyses of recruitment materials and websites, and the analysis of publicly available data demonstrating the educational backgrounds of lawyers practising in the City. By deploying Bourdieusian concepts including the field, 'doxa', cultural capital, and habitus, the authors show that, in the firms studied, homologous elite cultures and social groups are maintained and legitimated as part of attempts to reproduce 'normalised' expectations about the identity and practice of a City professional. Maintenance is ensured by assessing the objectified, institutionalised, and embodied cultural capital of applicants in recruitment and selection processes, with only those possessing certain types of capital being recruited. This selection by cultural capital limits social mobility in City professions, which are dominated by the upper-middle classes, and helps explain why, in the face of critique and in the context of programmes designed to widen social diversity, the City legal profession remains socially exclusive.
AB - The authors examine the ways in which recruitment and selection processes facilitate the reproduction of elites and elite cultures within City law firms. The research is based upon original research carried out during 2009, consisting of in-depth semistructured interviews, semiotic and content analyses of recruitment materials and websites, and the analysis of publicly available data demonstrating the educational backgrounds of lawyers practising in the City. By deploying Bourdieusian concepts including the field, 'doxa', cultural capital, and habitus, the authors show that, in the firms studied, homologous elite cultures and social groups are maintained and legitimated as part of attempts to reproduce 'normalised' expectations about the identity and practice of a City professional. Maintenance is ensured by assessing the objectified, institutionalised, and embodied cultural capital of applicants in recruitment and selection processes, with only those possessing certain types of capital being recruited. This selection by cultural capital limits social mobility in City professions, which are dominated by the upper-middle classes, and helps explain why, in the face of critique and in the context of programmes designed to widen social diversity, the City legal profession remains socially exclusive.
KW - City of london
KW - Cultural capital
KW - Elites
KW - Law
KW - Professional service firms
KW - Recruitment and selection processes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865172601&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1068/a43605
DO - 10.1068/a43605
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865172601
SN - 0308-518X
VL - 44
SP - 1744
EP - 1762
JO - Environment and Planning A
JF - Environment and Planning A
IS - 7
ER -