Despite all the variations across jurisdictions and cultural context, the legal profession is always highly stratified in its social structure (Heinz and Laumann 1982).

Persisting gender, racial, and class inequalities have been meticulously documented in many Western countries, and they arguably also exist in Asia. However, there are many other layers and boundaries by which law practition­ers in Asia are differentiated.

One key factor is the enduring legacy of colonial­ism, which permeates the social structures of a large number of Asian countries and regions. Therefore, understanding the colonial origins of Asian legal profes­sions is of great importance. Additionally, the state is an influential actor, perhaps the most important one, in shaping the plurality and social differenti­ations of lawyers and other legal professionals across Asia. More recently, globalization has become another driving force for change in many countries, especially in the corporate legal sector. The four studies in this section use the cases of Indonesia, India, Japan, and Myanmar to illustrate the roles of coloni­alism, the state, and globalization in the development of Asian legal professions.

6.1

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