The erosion of legal education under neoliberalism: rigour, authority and professional formation in Chile

This article examines how the neoliberal transformation of higher education in Chile has eroded the conditions necessary for rigorous legal education and, consequently, for the ethical and professional formation of lawyers. Drawing on Marx’s critique of ideology and Nietzsche’s analysis of moral decadence, the article conceptualises neoliberalism not merely as an economic arrangement but as a moral and cultural order shaping universities, students and legal educators. Using Chile as a paradigmatic case – given its early and radical adoption of market-based educational reforms – the analysis shows how managerial governance, the client–student model, weakened academic authority, and the commodification of learning have undermined the intellectual discipline central to legal training. The article further argues that the failures of legal education manifest themselves beyond the university, contributing to a broader institutional fragility visible in recent public scandals involving legal professionals. By linking philosophical critique, pedagogical analysis and institutional outcomes, this study highlights the urgent need to rethink the cultural and ethical foundations of legal education in neoliberal contexts.