Description

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Combining analyses of feminist legal theory, legal doctrine, and feminist social movements, The Oxford Handbook of Feminism and Law in the United States offers a comprehensive overview of U.S. legal feminism. Contributions by leading feminist thinkers trace the impacts of legal feminism on legal claims and defenses and demonstrate how feminism has altered and transformed understandings of basic legal concepts, from sexual harassment and gender equity in sports to new conceptions of consent and motherhood. Its chapters connect legal feminism to adjacent intellectual discourses, such as masculinities theory and queer theory, and scrutinize criticisms and backlash to feminism from all sides of the political spectrum. Its examination of the prominent brands of feminist legal theory shows the links and divergences among feminist scholars, highlighting the continued relevance of established theories (liberal, dominance, and relational feminism) and the increased importance of new intersectional, sex-positive, and postmodern approaches.

Unique in its triple focus on theory, doctrine, and social movements, the Handbook recounts the history of activist struggles to pass the Equal Right Amendment, the Anti-Rape and Battered Movements of the 1970s, the contemporary movements for reproductive justice and against campus sexual assault, as well as the #MeToo movement. The emphasis on theory and feminist practice animates discussions of feminist legal pedagogy and feminist influences on judges and judicial decision making. Chapters on emerging areas of law ripe for feminist analysis explore foundational subjects such as contracts, tax, and tort law, and imagine feminist and social justice approaches to digital privacy and intellectual property law, environmental law, and immigration law. The Handbook provides a broad picture of the intellectual landscape and allows both new and established scholars to gain an in-depth understanding of the full range of feminist influence on U.S. law.

About the Author

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Deborah L. Brake is Professor of Law, John E. Murray Faculty Scholar, and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a leading scholar of gender law, best known for her work on Title IX and campus sexual assault, sex equality in sports, and retaliation and discrimination in the workplace. She has written more than twenty-five law review articles and published in top journals such as the Georgetown Law Journal, Minnesota Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, and Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Her work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and she has twice testified before Congress on the issues of pay discrimination and pay equity. Martha Chamallas is a Distinguished University Professor and the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law Emeritus at the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University. She is known for her pathbreaking treatise on Feminist Legal Theory and for her writings on sexual harassment, pay equity, and biases in personal injury law and damages. She is the 2022 recipient of the William L. Prosser award for pioneering the study of gender and race issues in tort law. Verna L. Williams is the Dean and Nippert Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Her scholarship explores the intersection of race, gender, and class in such areas as education law and policy in works appearing in such journals as the Georgetown Journal of Modern Critical Race Perspectives, UCLA Women's Law Journal, and the Michigan Journal of Race and Law. Dean Williams served as oral historian for former First Lady Michelle Obama. Before joining the College of Law, Dean Williams was Vice President and Director of Educational Opportunities at the National Women's Law Center, where she was lead counsel and successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which established that Title IX requires educational institutions to respond to and address complaints of student-to-student sexual harassment.