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Critical Legal Theory

#criticallegaltheory

About Feminist Legal Theory

Feminist legal theory attempts to navigate [the] tension between the positive and negative possibilities of law, within the context of a broader exploration of the relationship between sex/gender and wider society...There are many conflicting and contested accounts of what feminist legal theory entails....[however] there are some features which are common or recurring in much feminist legal scholarship. These include

(i) excavating the gendered content of what often appear to be gender‐neutral legal rules and regimes;

(ii) exploring law's content and operation from the perspective of women's needs and concerns (sometimes called a ‘woman‐centred’ approach); and

(iii) holding law to account through the application of norms and values, eg justice, equality, autonomy, community and so forth.

- from "Feminist Theories of Law" by Joanne Conaghan in The New Oxford Companion to Law