Feminist Philosophy of Law STUDY NOTES A LEVAL

First published Tue May 19, 2009; substantive revision Tue Oct 24, 2017 Feminist philosophy of law identifies the pervasive influence of patriarchy and masculinist norms on legal structures and demonstrates their effects on the material conditions of women and girls and those who may not conform to cisgender norms. It also considers problems at the intersection of sexuality and law and develops reforms to correct gender injustice, exploitation, or restriction. To these ends, feminist philosophy of law applies insights from feminist epistemology, relational metaphysics and progressive social ontology, feminist political theory, and other developments in feminist philosophy to understand how legal institutions enforce dominant gendered and masculinist norms. Contemporary feminist philosophy of law also draws from diverse scholarly perspectives such as international human rights theory, postcolonial theory, critical legal studies, critical race theory, queer theory, and disability studies. Addressing the goals of feminist philosophy of law requires theory development, conceptual analysis, and conceptual revision. Promoting freedom and equality for women reflects a profound shift in basic assumptions about the nature of women and their proper place in the world: a shift from inequality to equality of the sexes, along with re-examination of what equality itself requires. It also requires re- examination of the understanding of sex, gender, and gender roles. Given the scope and detail of this change, feminist legal theory proceeds on multiple levels, from the pragmatic, concrete, and particular to the conceptual and ultimately visionary. Some of this writing appears in philosophy journals and monographs, but much also appears in journals in gender studies and feminism, generalist law reviews, and the many specialist law journals devoted to issues of gender and justice. This article begins with a brief overview of fundamental themes of feminist legal theory, followed by discussion of the evolution of views about needed institutional changes in several substantive areas of law: political equality, immigration, and citizenship; marriage, reproductive rights, and commodification of the body; protection from violence; and economic rights.  1. Fundamental Themes in Feminist Legal Philosophy o 1.1 The Rule of Law o 1.2 Equality and Difference o 1.3 Reasonableness in Law o 1.4 Public and Private o 1.5 Human Rights o 1.6 Multiple Methodologies