‘Gender and Law’ asks how gendered power relations impact the law and how the law impacts gender. Over the past decades a rich and exciting scholarship in feminist legal theory has presented convincing arguments on gendered character of legal norms and challenged neutrality of the law. Thus, this approach poses a significant challenge to traditional ways of thinking about law, questioning some of the basic premises of what constitutes justice and equality in various societies. This module addresses the main tenets, methodologies and controversies in gender theories of law, including the notion of equality, intersectionality in law, the public/private divide, the regulation of family relationship and so on. Using feminist methodologies, we examine a number of areas of law including equality protections, reproductive rights, sexual citizenship, work family issues and violence.
