Feminist Legal Theory Foundations

This unique text offers a discussion of one of the most important movements in legal scholarship today: feminist legal theory. The first of two volumes, Foundations examines theoretical issues about the interaction between law and gender. The second volume will explore the application of feminist legal theory to specific substantive areas of the law, such as criminal law, family law, employment law, and the legal profession. In this first volume, thirty-eight articles by distinguished legal scholars and feminists address issues of equality, difference, separate spheres, essentialism, legal methodology, and theories of law. The essays, published in widely dispersed legal publications, are thematically arranged, with introductions by the editor, to provide a text for students, a convenient source for scholars and policy makers, and a comprehensive introduction for general readers. Author note: D. Kelly Weisberg is Professor of Law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She has published several other books, including Child, Family and State: Cases and Materials on Children and the Law (co-authored with Robert Mnookin).

This book offers powerful analyses of the relationship between law and gender and new understandings of the limits of, and opportunities for, legal reform drawn from the experiences of women and from critical perspectives developed within other disciplines.

Feminist legal theory is one of the most dynamic fields in the law, and it affects issues ranging from child custody to sexual harassment. Since its initial publication in 2006, Feminist Legal Theory: A Primer has received rave reviews. Now, in the completely updated second edition of this outstanding primer, Nancy Levit and Robert R.M. Verchick introduce the diverse strands of feminist legal theory and discuss an array of substantive legal topics, pulling in recent court decisions, new laws, and important shifts in culture and technology. The book centers on feminist legal theories, including equal treatment theory, cultural feminism, dominance theory, critical race feminism, lesbian feminism, postmodern feminism, and ecofeminism. Readers will find new material on women in politics, gender and globalization, and the promise and danger of expanding social media. Updated statistics and empirical analysis appear throughout. The authors, prominent experts in the field, also address feminist legal methods, such as consciousness-raising and storytelling. The primer offers an accessible and pragmatic approach to feminist legal theory. It demonstrates the ways feminist legal theory operates in real-life contexts, including domestic violence, reproductive rights, workplace discrimination, education, sports, pornography, and global issues of gender. The authors highlight a sweeping range of cutting-edge topics at the intersection of law and gender, such as single-sex schools, abortion, same-sex marriage, rape on college campuses, and international trafficking in women and girls. At its core, Feminist Legal Theory shows the importance of the roles of law and feminist legal theory in shaping contemporary gender issues.

The leading text in the field, Introduction to Feminist Legal Theory was the first book that served as an introductory survey of feminist jurisprudence. Its historical view of feminist legal theory places issues in social context and thoroughly reviews the evolving paradigms of contemporary feminism from the 1970s through the present. The full range of legal issues affecting women are covered, including gender discrimination, rape, sexual harassment, motherhood, reproductive issues, and much more. Clear, energetic presentation keeps students engaged and involved with succinct overviews, intellectually stimulating material, and jargon-free prose. The Third Edition features up-to-date theories and topics, such as the "autonomy" feminism and "masculinities" theory. Expansion of the current theory-based structure includes the "big three" feminisms described in the previous edition and the "new three" feminisms, which are expanded in the third edition. New applied areas are covered as well, such as transgender legal issues and sex trafficking. While the book remains U.S.-focused, important new material on global and comparative feminism has been added. Throughout the text, students will find discussion about changes in the law since 2003 on issues such as rape, pay equity, sex stereotyping, marriage equality, Title IX, and more. Thoroughly updated, the revised Third Edition presents: Up-to-date theories and topics "autonomy" feminism, "masculinities" theory, "social justice" feminism LGBT and critical race perspectivesa Two-part organization, focusing on chronology and substantive areas of the law that are of particular importance to feminist legal scholars Part one focuses on chronology by examining the three generations of feminist legal theory that have emerged since 1971 the Generation of Equality (1970s) the Generation of Difference (1980s) the Generation of Complex Identities (1990s to present) this part will also include the "new three" feminisms in the 3rd edition (intersectional, autonomy and postmodern feminism) Part two focuses on substantive areas of the law, which fall into three categories economic subordination of women sexual subordination of women motherhood and reproduction Introduction of new applied areas transgender legal issues sex trafficking reproductive justice More material on global and comparative feminism, while remaining U.S.-focused Discussion of changes in the law since 2003 rape domestic violence pay equity torts and tax law same-sex marriage Title IX, and more

"In the completely updated second edition of this outstanding primer, Nancy Levit and Robert R.M. Verchick introduce the diverse strands of feminist legal theory and discuss an array of substantive legal topics, pulling in recent court decisions, new laws, and important shifts in culture and technology. The book centers on feminist legal theories, including equal treatment theory, cultural feminism, dominance theory, critical race feminism, lesbian feminism, postmodern feminism, and ecofeminism. Readers will find new material on women in politics, gender and globalization, and the promise and danger of expanding social media. Updated statistics and empirical analysis appear throughout. At its core, Feminist Legal Theory shows the importance of the roles of law and feminist legal theory in shaping contemporary gender issues"--Unedited summary from book cover.

A collection of previously published articles.