Leigha C. Crout. “A Reform Revolution: The Legal Profession Under Authoritarian Closure.” Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 32, no. 2 (2025): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.2979/gls.00008.

The rule of law is once more threatened by a rising tide of authoritarianism, characterized by populist political movements and systemic attempts to undermine its core values. Legal mobilization—the strategic use of legal institutions, discourse, and mechanisms to challenge power structures and advance legal and political change—has emerged as a critical response. This process may be initiated by lawyers, but also extends beyond traditional legal practice, encompassing social movements, strategic litigation, and collective efforts to leverage legal tools for institutional transformation. This article will trace the development of legal mobilization against authoritarianism under Party-state governance, utilizing a comparative and historical frame. It will begin with a brief description of the legal system’s decimation under the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命, wenhua da geming), its re-professionalization and the nation’s economic rise during the era of Reform and Opening Up (改革开放, gaige kaifang) and beyond, and then turn to today’s New Era (新时代, xin shidai) under the present administration’s leadership. What follows will analyze how actors have strategically challenged authoritarian leadership through legal mobilization and protected the values incidental to the rule of law. Through a case study on the evolving methodologies of the legal profession in China, this Article aims to illustrate strategic pathways for lawyers in other authoritarian states or in struggling democracies to achieve reform within their own jurisdictions. It will begin with an abbreviated discussion of the scope of this study.