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Gender, Law and the State: Current Legal Issues (LAWS0231)

Feminist legal theory offers a challenge to conventional ways of understanding the form, meaning and function of law and it offers a critique of foundational assumptions about law.

This module first will examine feminist legal theory both in conceptual analysis and in practical argument. We will look, for example, at law’s theoretical underpinnings and its assumptions about the nature of the state and the individual.

We will then explore various areas of public and private law and examine law’s role in challenging, creating or reproducing gender relations. Sex-specific and sex-related legislation and policy will be analysed in the light of current debates within feminist theory.

Module syllabus

This module offers both theory and practical engagements with the law, international institutions such as the UN, and institutions of the state such as parliament, the bench, prisons and health services.

It assesses the contribution a feminist perspective can offer to understanding women’s engagement with these institutions, and with different national laws, human rights documents and international conventions. The module is taught by a number of tutors, each with specialist expertise in the subject area.

Recommended materials

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, available at the beginning of term once students have enrolled.

Key information

Module information
Credit value:45 credits (450 learning hours)
Convenor:Alison Diduck
Other Teachers:

In previous years lecturers have included:

  • Colm O'Cinneide
  • Elaine Genders
  • Jonathon Montgomery
  • Virginia Mantouvalou
  • Jeff King
  • Jane Holder
  • Silvia Suteu
Teaching Delivery:Teaching for all LLM modules in 2020-21 will be delivered through a combination of pre-recorded and synchronous live teaching
Who may enrol:LLM Student Only
Prerequisites:None
Must not be taken with:None
Qualifying module for:
  • LLM in Law and Social Justice
  • LLM in Human Rights Law
  • LLM in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory
Assessment
Practice Assessment:TBC
Final Assessment:48 Hour take-home examination (100%)