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11 Int'l J. Legal Prof. 11 (2004)

handle is hein.journals/injlepro11 and id is 1 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION, a Carfax Pubhdung VOL. 11, NO. 1 & 2, MARCH & JULY 2004 rII* Professionalism and exclusionary practices: shifting the terrain of privilege and professional monopoly FIoNA M. IAY Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada Introduction English Lawyers between Market and State (Abel, 2003) offers a story rich with thought- ful insight into political strategy, historical context, and individual champions and adversaries of change and traditionalism. Richard Abel examines the causes and con- sequences of a recent and profound challenge to the legal profession of England and Wales, likely the greatest challenge in over 200 years to its governance, self-regulation, and once relatively autonomous relationship to state and market. Richard Abel has written a magnificent work of narrative history. Abel's reasons for crafting a narrative history are expressed with amusement in his preface to the book: I have written narrative history because it illuminates the ineluctable specificity of politics, which can be understood only in relation to the past-and because it is a story, with colourful protagonists, drama and bathos, punctilious propriety and vulgar farce (p. xvi). The book follows the tradition of earlier significant works on the pro- fessions with careful attention to archival documents and interviews (Halliday, 1987), national context (Abbott, 1988; Leeming, 2001), historical transitions and political forces (Larson, 1977), and cultural change (Karpik, 1999; Thornton, 1996). Abel begins with an historical account of British politics from the time of Prime Minister Thatcher, through Major and Blair. The historical and political account pro- vides a context for the clashes over the Green and White Papers and Courts and Legal Services Bill. The book reveals several arenas of struggle: numbers and demographic constituency of lawyers over the period of the 1990s, barristers' and solicitors' restric- tive practices, state funding, self-regulation, and finally, governance. Throughout the book, Abel makes diligent and provocative use of extensive direct quotations from the principal players. Each of these players, and there are many, often vocal and verbose, come together in a story rich with intrigue, much dialogue, rhetoric, critical insight, and compelling argument. Address for correspondence: Fiona M. Kay, Department of Sociology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. E-mail: kayfgpost.queensu.ca ISSN 0969-5958 print/ISSN 1469-9257 online/04/01 -20011-09 ( 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd DOI: 10.1080/0969595042000317398

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