Professionalism and gender difference in São Paulo’s magistrature

Abstract

This article focuses on the changes in the gender composition of the São Paulo magistrature, which occurred simultaneously to the judicial reform process. The argument is that the Appellate Court adopted strategies of judicial recruitment and control to maintain itself as an elite public career. The Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo had to deal with an external environment claiming for the judicial reform as well as a more heterogeneous internal environment. In this context, it gave centrality to the professional posture, searching to restore homogeneity through the collective identification of magistrate. The article conceptualizes the difference and suggests forms of how it is interpretated within the magistrature. The difference stands out as subjectivity, as part of the interiority, presenting a shared corporality that distinguishes the group and that produces its symbolic efficacy. The empiric base for the study is the data gathered by the project Professionalism and gender in the legal careers, sponsored by CNPq, with quantitative data, 20 qualitative interviews, and documental sources.