STEP - Science and Technology in the European Periphery

Call for Authors - Seeking Lady Justice: Women, Gender and the Courts

This edited book collection will explore the relationship of gender relations and law in modern Europe (1795-present). Few social sectors are feminising as rapidly as the judicial world. This book wishes to examine this process, its historical beginnings and its impact on the working of the judicial system and its actors. What factors have played a role in the breakthrough of women in the representation and administration of justice and which factors influence the position of women at the various levels of the legal system (as legal staff, as perpetrators, and as victims)? Papers are sought that that will attempt to address these questions either from the point of view of women’s legal history, or from that of actual gendered legal cultures.
Papers that engage with historical themes within any humanities or social science discipline are preferred. Researchers must demonstrate a commitment to a methodological framework that is sensitive to the intersection of gender theory, law history and public policy. Contributions are welcome from scholars at any level of their professional careers.
Themes:
1) History of women in legal professions
- the history of legal feminism
- women’s access to legal professions
- gendered work roles in the judicial system

2) Gender constructions and their impact on jurisprudence
- family law and property rights
- gender and judging
- gender in judicial education

3) Gendered legal cultures in global perspectives
- theories and methods in understanding similarities and differences
- transfers and interactions of legal doctrines and systems of justice

Proposals should include:

A 750-1000 word abstract
A brief curriculum vitae (1 page)
Full contact information including mail, email, and phone/fax numbers

Proposals are due 1 March 2011. Contributors will be notified by 31 May 2011 if their proposals have been accepted. Full articles of 6000 to 8000 words will be due no later than 31 September 2011. Papers in English must be sent to Eva Schandevyl, editor of the volume.

Prof. Eva Schandevyl
RHEA & Department of Metajuridica
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Brussels
Belgium
+32-2-6292559
Eva.Schandevyl@vub.ac.be