Academic

Feminism and Legal Theory 25th Anniversary Conference ? November 6-8th Emory University School of Law ? Atlanta, GA

By Ann Bartow

In 1991, Routledge published At the Boundaries of Law, the very first anthology in feminist legal theory.  This book has proven invaluable to scholars and students alike. The volume grew out of workshops given by the Feminism and Legal Theory Project (FLT Project), which began at the University of Wisconsin in 1984.  That initial volume included chapters based on papers presented at FLT workshops by such now-notable interdisciplinary scholars, as Patricia Williams, Robin West, Mary Jane Mossman, and Lucie White.  Over the years, the FLT Project has continued to generate significant and path-breaking work by well known critical law and society scholars.

In 2008, as the FLT Project is entering its 25^th year of programming, we are calling together these and other significant scholars to mark this auspicious anniversary and to assess the past transformative power and present ongoing viability of feminist legal theory both inside and outside of the academy. The conference?Transcending the Boundaries of Law?will be a ?retrospective? on 25 years of theoretical engagement and evolution in regard to gender and law.  It will also chart the course for the future of feminist legal thought in the Law and Society tradition.

The conference will be organized according to a three-generation schema.  First is what might be termed the transitional generation of feminist legal scholars (those who moved us from women-in-law to feminist legal theory).  There are many untold stories about that transition.  Second, will be work from the students who followed in our wake.  Their path was ?easier,? in that they had both feminist theoretical material and academic mentors to facilitate their scholarly projects.  They raised important intersectional ideas and concepts, complicating the very concept of gender.  They have also taken on counter and conservative movements in law, such as that represented by law and economics and sociobiology.

The third group are those developing new challenges, broadening the inquiry, sometimes questioning the now deemed ?traditional? feminist model with more critical takes on gender theory.  This group would be defined not by age or generation in its narrow sense, but by the breadth of their ideas of what should constitute feminist inquiry.  This group would of necessity address the tensions that have emerged between queer and feminist theories as well as the increasingly obvious inadequacies of identity-based theories even supplemented by concepts such as intersectionality.

More information, including the list of participants, here.

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on September 15, 2008 (boomark / email).