Feminist Perspectives on Contemporary International Law: Between Resistance and Compliance? - Paperback

by Sari Kouvo (Editor), Rosemary Hunter (Editor), Zoe Pearson (Editor)

The essays in this volume analyse feminism's positioning vis-à-vis international law and the current paradigms of international law. The authors argue that, willingly or unwillingly, feminist perspectives on international law have come to be situated between 'resistance' and 'compliance'. That is, feminist scholarship aims at deconstructing international law to show why and how 'women' have been marginalised; at the same time feminists have been largely unwilling to challenge the core of international law and its institutions, remaining hopeful of international law's potential for women. The analysis is clustered around three themes: the first part, theory and method, looks at how feminist perspectives on international law have developed and seeks to introduce new theoretical and methodological tools (especially through a focus on psychoanalysis and geography). The second part, national and international security, focuses on how feminists have situated themselves in relation to the current discourses of 'crisis', the post-9/11 NGO 'industry' and the changing discourses of violence against women. The third part, global and local justice, addresses some of the emerging trends in international law, focusing especially on transitional justice, state-building, trafficking and economic globalisation.

Author Biography

Sari Kouvo is working for the European External Action Service in Brussels. She lectures at Gothenburg University in Sweden and is co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
Zoe Pearson is formerly a lecturer in the School of Law, Keele University, and currently works in the area of immigration and refugee law in New Zealand.