Universally considered to be pathbreaking, landmark, original, and provocative since its first edition was published three decades ago, "Women in Law" continues to provide a sociological and historical analysis of the overt and subtle ceilings placed on women in the legal profession in their various roles. It is a foundational work for departments of gender studies, law, and sociology - but also reads as accessible and interesting to a general audience.

Adding a new foreword by Stanford's Deborah Rhode, the thirtieth anniversary edition of this classic book reports countless revealing interviews, war stories, and inside glimpses of the many professional roles that women inhabit: lawyers, judges, professors, leaders, and backroom labor. It also brings vividly to life the candid - and sometimes cringeworthy - assessments by male lawyers and judges about the changes to the profession ushered in by the increasing entry of women to the lawyers' club.

Part of the "Classics of Law & Society" Series from Quid Pro, "Women in Law" is recognized as within the canon of its field, and now is available in a modern paperback format. It features embedded page numbers from the previous print editions (to facilitate referencing, classroom assignment, and continuity with the new ebook editions), as well as all the original tables and figures.

"From the new Foreword: "

"When Cynthia Fuchs Epstein published her pathbreaking account of "Women in Law," their status in the profession was separate and anything but equal.... Over the last three decades, much has changed but too much has remained the same. Now, about half of new lawyers in the United States are women and they are fairly evenly distributed across substantive areas. Yet significant gender disparities persist. Women constitute about a third of the lawyers in large firms, but only about 17 percent of equity partners. Attrition rates are almost twice as high among female associates as among comparable male associates.... When Epstein published "Women in Law," part of what attracted its widespread acclaim was its originality; it was among the first in what has now become a rich literature on gender and diversity in the profession. Indeed, the fact that the book is being reissued testifies not only to its enduring scholarly value, but also to the attention that the issue now commands.... Her book helped inspire that movement, and our profession remains deeply in her debt." - Deborah L. RhodeErnest W. McFarland Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

"Impressive ... a story which the legal world can read with no legal pride and which others will read with substantial interest." - "New York Times Book Review" (reviewing the first edition)

"Little did I know that my intimidation by senior officers in the UNDP had only just begun." Fouzia Saeed dreamed of bringing social change to the women of Pakistan and was thrilled to land her dream job at the world's ethical compass and institutional tour de force: The United Nations. As expected, the UN was a gathering place for passionate minds devoted to human rights and justice for all. Shockingly, at the UN mission in Pakistan it was also a breeding ground for powerful men who viewed women as sexual objects rather than professional equals. Refusing her boss's advances didn't stop the harassment. Reporting him to superiors didn't either. In her years-long struggle with torment and humiliation at the UN, Fouzia held strong, knowing her fight for women's rights was the only thing that could keep her going. But how do you fight for others' rights when you cannot even take hold of your own? Can you ever change a culture that views sexual harassment by a man as a woman's crime? Fouzia and a group of female colleagues, who similarly suffered in the workplace, gained the courage to risk their reputations. They filed a joint compliant and promptly found themselves under attack by their managers who aligned with the perpetrator in an effort to crush their case. Working with Sharks follows eleven indestructible women and the case that sparked a national movement and culminated in the passage of legislation that made sexual harassment a crime in Pakistan in 2010. Inspirational and poignant, Working with Sharks encourages women in any part of the world to find their voice and stand up to sexual harassment.

This work is a systematic analysis of the subject of disability and society as encountered in institutions of higher learning in Kenya. Experiences of women students with disabilities in Kenyan universities demonstrates that marginalization of people with disabilities is an insidious reality in virtually all societies. Across Africa, dialogue on discrimination against individuals with disability has for a long time been silenced resulting into minimal participation and representation of this population in the political, social, cultural, and economic and development initiatives in the continent. Only a few texts have examined the question of disability and the status of people with disabilities in Africa and more so, with reference to gender and higher education. Filing this gap, this book discusses the experiences of women students with disabilities in university education in Kenya. It analyzes the challenges these women face and how they deal with those challenges. There is evidence of ableim in Kenyan higher education institutions and in the society as a whole. Individuals, government and societal institutions should work together to address ableism and promote an inclusive society.

What others say

Disability is not inability. This cutting edge text reveals that although women students with disabilities in Kenyan universities face numerous challenges, they are determined to succeed. The desire to lead a better life is the glue that gives these women the determination to challenge their subjugated positions in society. This book provides important recommendations for policy, practice and research which Kenya and other African nations can learn from to change things for the better. It is an important and timely read to be enjoyed by everyone. - " Chris Atuti, Toronto, Canada."

This book brings us in touch with the lives of women, and their struggles, so as to inspire the collective need to address disability in more thought provoking ways. Skilfully, Bathseba depicts the complexity of living with disability through her ethnographic account of twenty women students in Kenyan universities. Through this unique research and analysis, the reader comes to know that every experience of disability needs to be understood as a fully social, political, and historical, not to mention valid, way of being-in-the-world. Bathseba has produced a book that is a must read for anyone interested in exploring education as it is interwoven with the meanings of race, gender, class and disability in and through the Kenyan context - " Dr. Tanya Titchkosky Associate Professor, Associate Chair, and Graduate Coordinator, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto."

This book is an outstanding sociological exploration of gender, disability and higher education in the African context. The women's stories come alive in this brilliant and sensitive interpretation of challenges and accomplishments of women students with disabilities in Kenyan universities. By giving voice to those who are rarely heard, Bathseba contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the student experience. - ." Sandra Acker, Professor Emeritus, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto."

About the Author

Bathseba Opini teaches at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the African Studies Program, University of Toronto. She is the author of the Children's Book "Africans Thought of It: Amazing Innovations" (with Richard Lee). Her other published works can be found in the " International Journal of Inclusive Education, " the " Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research and the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability."

Nancy Gertner launched her legal career by defending antiwar activist Susan Saxe, who was on trial for her role in a robbery that resulted in the murder of a police officer. After this high-profile, highly charged case, Gertner continued to cause a stir in case after riveting case. She threw herself into criminal and civil cases focused on women's rights and civil liberties, establishing herself as a talented and unrepentant advocate for women. Now she looks back on that storied career of groundbreaking firsts and tells of her struggle to succeed personally and professionally while working on benchmark cases.

The recognition of the capacity of women entrepreneurs in our global community is no longer a matter of debate, but a realisation that female entrepreneurship is now forming one of the major factors contributing to the development of many countries, and not just countries in transition. Most women entrepreneurs are seen to be more realistic about their commercial prodigies and often make attempts to develop them within a family environment, while men gravitate more towards developing business hierarchies with defined rules and working business procedures. Women in Business: Theory, Practice and Flexible Approaches is a practical book that provides support and practical planning tools to guide both established and aspiring female entrepreneurs. Because self-employment and entrepreneurial activities are decisions that cannot be taken lightly, a number of checklists and tests which could be used to make entrepreneurial decision-making processes easier and more effective are discussed within the framework of feminist theories. Professor Mirjana Radoviae Markoviae - is professor and researcher in the field of Entrepreneurship. She is an author of ten books devoted to business management and entrepreneurship. Professor Radovic holds a Degree in Economics, a Masters Degree in Theoretical Economy and a Ph.D. in Economics from Belgrade University. She has served as guest lecturer at a number of universities, foundations and institutes in Moscow, The Hague, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, St. Paul, Atlanta, Portland, and New Orleans. She has twice won scholarships from the United Nations for her studies in Russia and India. Dr Imani Silver Kyaruzi, an Entrepreneurship and Economic Development analyst, holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography and Entrepreneurship from The University of Birmingham, an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Birmingham City University and BA (Hons) degree from The University of Wolverhampton. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in Entrepreneurship and Management at London Graduate School of Management. He is also Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Kragujevac, Serbia. He is the editor of African Businesses and Economic Growth: Institutions, Firms, Practices and Policy. His works on entrepreneurship and local economic growth have been published in English and Swahili. His main research interests include entrepreneurship and SME developmen

While feminist legal scholarship has thrived within universities and in some sectors of legal practice, it has yet to have much impact within the judiciary or on judicial thinking. Thus, while feminist legal scholarship has generated comprehensive critiques of existing legal doctrine, there has been little opportunity to test or apply feminist knowledge in practice, in decisions in individual cases. In this book, a group of feminist legal scholars put theory into practice in judgment form, by writing the 'missing' feminist judgments in key cases. The cases chosen are significant decisions in English law across a broad range of substantive areas. The cases originate from a variety of levels but are primarily opinions of the Court of Appeal or the House of Lords. In some instances they are written in a fictitious appeal, but in others they are written as an additional concurring or dissenting judgment in the original case, providing a powerful illustration of the way in which the case could have been decided differently, even at the time it was heard. Each case is accompanied by a commentary which renders the judgment accessible to a non-specialist audience. The commentary explains the original decision, its background and doctrinal significance, the issues it raises, and how the feminist judgment deals with them differently. The books also includes chapters examining the theoretical and conceptual issues raised by the process and practice of feminist judging, and by the judgments themselves, including the possibility of divergent feminist approaches to legal decision-making. From the foreword by Lady Hale 'Reading this book ought to be a chastening experience for any judge who believes himself or herself to be both true to their judicial oath and a neutral observer of the world...If lawyers and judges like me have so much to learn from reading this book, then surely other, more sceptical, lawyers and judges have even more to learn...other scholars, and not only feminists, must also be fascinated by the window it opens onto the process of judicial reasoning: not the straightforward, predetermined march from A to B of popular belief, but something altogether more complicated and uncertain. And anyone will find it a very good read.'

Tort law is the body of law governing negligence, intentional misconduct, and other wrongful acts for which civil actions can be brought. The conventional wisdom is that the rules, concepts, and structures of tort law are neutral and unbiased, free of considerations of gender and race.

In The Measure of Injury, Martha Chamallas and Jennifer Wriggins prove that tort law is anything but gender and race neutral. Drawing on an in-depth analysis of case law ranging from the Jim Crow South to the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, the authors demonstrate that women and minorities have been under-compensated in tort law and that traditional biases have resurfaced in updated forms to perpetuate patterns of disparate recovery based on race and gender. Grappling with tort theory, the intricacies of legal doctrine and the practical effects of legal rules, The Measure of Injury is a unique treatise on torts that uncovers the public and cultural dimensions of this always-controversial domain of private law.

All across America, angry fathers are demanding rights. These men claim that since the breakdown of their own families, they have been deprived of access to their children. Joining together to form fathers' rights groups, the mostly white, middle-class men meet in small venues to speak their minds about the state of the American family and, more specifically, to talk about the problems they personally face, for which they blame current child support and child custody policies. Dissatisfied with these systems, fathers' rights groups advocate on behalf of legal reforms that will lower their child support payments and help them obtain automatic joint custody of their children.

In Defiant Dads, Jocelyn Elise Crowley offers a balanced examination of these groups in order to understand why they object to the current child support and child custody systems; what their political agenda, if enacted, would mean for their members' children or children's mothers; and how well they deal with their members' interpersonal issues concerning their ex-partners and their role as parents. Based on interviews with more than 150 fathers' rights group leaders and members, as well as close observation of group meetings and analysis of their rhetoric and advocacy literature, this important book is the first extensive, in-depth account of the emergence of fathers' rights groups in the United States. A nuanced and timely look at an emerging social movement, Defiant Dads is a revealing investigation into the changing dynamics of both the American family and gender relations in American society.

Pacific Colony, a Southern California institution established to care for the "feebleminded," justified the incarceration, sterilization, and forced mutilation of some of the most vulnerable members of society from the 1920s through the 1950s. Institutional records document the convergence of ableism and racism in Pacific Colony. Analyzing a vast archive, Natalie Lira reveals how political concerns over Mexican immigration-particularly ideas about the low intelligence, deviant sexuality, and inherent criminality of the "Mexican race"-shaped decisions regarding the treatment and reproductive future of Mexican-origin patients. Laboratory of Deficiency documents the ways Mexican-origin people sought out creative resistance to institutional control and offers insight into how race, disability, and social deviance have been called upon to justify the confinement and reproductive constraint of certain individuals in the name of public health and progress.

Gender quotas are a controversial policy measure. However, over the past twenty years they have been widely adopted around the world and especially in Europe. They are now used in politics, corporate boards, state and local public administration and even in civil society organizations. This book explores this unprecedented phenomenon, providing a unique comparative perspective on gender quotas' adoption across thirteen European countries. It also studies resistance to gender quotas by political parties and supreme courts. Providing up-to-date comprehensive data on gender quotas regulations, Transforming Gender Citizenship proposes a typology of countries, from those which have embraced gender quotas as a new way to promote gender equality in all spheres of social life, to those who have consistently refused gender quotas as a tool for gender equality. Reflecting on divergences and commonalities across Europe, the authors analyze how gender quotas may transform dominant conception of citizenship and gender equality.

"Feminist Legal Theory" is just over a decade old in the United States and is even younger in most other countries. Here, Francis Olsen presents the best articles from within this burgeoning field. Drawing on literature which is extremely rich and varied, these volumes include articles from a range leading legal scholars and feminists. Two volumes.

Did you know: women are 59% more likely than men to receive an incorrect diagnosis when experiencing heart attack. Or: women are more susceptible to pain medications than men, leading to higher rates of addiction because doctors simply prescribe pain medication in the same way. Or: among alcoholics, women are almost 100% more likely to die due to alcohol-related diseases than men are? In a field that, for millennia, has been dominated by men. The vast majority of medicines and treatments that we use today were designed for, and by, men and the myth that medicine is gender-neutral has had terrible repercussions for women. In THIS WON'T HURT, Dr Marieke Bigg takes a deep dive into all the ways medicine is not gender neutral, using stories and experiences to demonstrate how these flawed mindsets have paved the way for sub-par treatment, and how prevailing attitudes in a patriarchal world can have unexpected effects far downstream. From sex and reproduction, to female bones and female pain, Marieke explores how women's bodies have been ignored, misunderstood and misdiagnosed, and asks the fundamental question: How can we make sure we do better? Blending fascinating examples with historical and cultural context, and with an eye to a better future, THIS WON'T HURT is a must-read for anyone committed to making this world safe to navigate for all.

What Women Want is a trenchant examination of the struggle for women's equality, and a prescription for what to focus on next in order to ensure maximum success. Feminism today is a movement that lacks leadership, unity, and definition, and it has gotten stuck in a boom and bust cycle when it comes to public opinion and action. Despite significant progress over the last fifty years, equality is still a distant goal in the political, social, and economic spheres. Only by identifying the barriers (both internal and external) that remain, Deborah Rhode argues, can we begin to identify solutions. A rigorously researched and well-written answer to the glut of gender-related books that have come onto the market recently, What Women Want comprehensively analyzes the challenges the feminist movement faces today. Combining sharp academic analysis and interviews with notable figures such as Sheryl Sandberg, Rhode focuses on five main topics: employment issues such as pay discrimination, work-life balance and the government's pitiful response, the assault on women's reproductive rights and the limits it places on their economic mobility, sexual harassment and violence, and the detrimental effect that the unfashionable label "feminist" can have, especially in attracting young women to the movement. Despite these formidable obstacles, the goals and principles of feminism are widely accepted by the American mainstream, and Rhode, herself a pathbreaker in the fields of law and education, offers effective strategies for redefining and advancing the feminist agenda, thereby creating a movement that truly recognizes, and is responsive to, what all women want.

An innovative collaboration between academics, practitioners, activists and artists, this timely and provocative book rewrites 16 significant Scots law cases, spanning a range of substantive topics, from a feminist perspective. Exposing power, politics and partiality, feminist judges provide alternative accounts that bring gender equity concerns to the fore, whilst remaining bound by the facts and legal authorities encountered by the original court. Paying particular attention to Scotland's distinctive national identity, fluctuating experiences of political sovereignty, and unique legal traditions and institutions, this book contributes in a distinctive register to the emerging dialogue amongst feminist judgment projects across the globe. Its judgments address concerns not only about gender equality, but also about the interplay between gender, class, national identity and citizenship in contemporary Scotland. The book also showcases unique contributions from leading artists which, provoked by the enterprise of feminist judging, or by individual cases, offer a visceral and affective engagement with the legal. The book will be of interest to academics, practitioners and students of Scots law, policy-makers, as well as to scholars of feminist and critical theory, and law and gender, internationally.

A transformative progressive politics requires the state's reimagining. But how should the state be reimagined, and what can invigorate this process? In Feeling Like a State, Davina Cooper explores the unexpected contribution a legal drama of withdrawal might make to conceptualizing a more socially just, participative state. In recent years, as gay rights have expanded, some conservative Christians-from charities to guesthouse owners and county clerks-have denied people inclusion, goods, and services because of their sexuality. In turn, liberal public bodies have withdrawn contracts, subsidies, and career progression from withholding conservative Christians. Cooper takes up the discourses and practices expressed in this legal conflict to animate and support an account of the state as heterogeneous, plural, and erotic. Arguing for the urgent need to put new imaginative forms into practice, Cooper examines how dissident and experimental institutional thinking materialize as people assert a democratic readiness to recraft the state.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's last book is a curation of her own legacy, tracing the long history of her work for gender equality and a "more perfect Union." In the fall of 2019, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to deliver the first annual Herma Hill Kay Memorial Lecture in honor of her friend, the late Herma Hill Kay, with whom Ginsburg had coauthored the very first casebook on sex-based discrimination in 1974. Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue is the result of a period of collaboration between Ginsburg and Amanda L. Tyler, a Berkeley Law professor and former Ginsburg law clerk. During Justice Ginsburg's visit to Berkeley, she told her life story in conversation with Tyler. In this collection, the two bring together that conversation and other materials-many previously unpublished-that share details from Justice Ginsburg's family life and long career. These include notable briefs and oral arguments, some of Ginsburg's last speeches, and her favorite opinions that she wrote as a Supreme Court Justice (many in dissent), along with the statements that she read from the bench in those important cases. Each document was chosen by Ginsburg and Tyler to tell the story of the litigation strategy and optimistic vision that were at the heart of Ginsburg's unwavering commitment to the achievement of "a more perfect Union." In a decades-long career, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an advocate and jurist for gender equality and for ensuring that the United States Constitution leaves no person behind. Her work transformed not just the American legal landscape, but American society more generally. Ginsburg labored tirelessly to promote a Constitution that is ever more inclusive and that allows every individual to achieve their full human potential. As revealed in these pages, in the area of gender rights, Ginsburg dismantled long-entrenched systems of discrimination based on outdated stereotypes by showing how such laws hold back both genders. And as also shown in the materials brought together here, Justice Ginsburg had a special ability to appreciate how the decisions of the high court impact the lived experiences of everyday Americans. The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020 as this book was heading into production was met with a public outpouring of grief. With her death, the country lost a hero and national treasure whose incredible life and legacy made the United States a more just society and one in which "We the People," for whom the Constitution is written, includes everyone.

Drawing on the insights of Indigenous feminist legal theory, Emily Snyder examines representations of Cree law and gender in books, videos, graphic novels, educational websites, online lectures, and a video game. Although these resources promote the revitalization of Cree law and the principle of miyo-wicehtowin (good relations), Snyder argues that they do not capture the complexities of gendered power relations. The majority of these resources either erase women's legal authority by not mentioning them, or they diminish their agency by portraying Cree laws and gender roles in inflexible, aesthetically pleasing ways that overlook power imbalances and other forms of oppression.

In the landmark Lavallee decision of 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that evidence of "battered woman syndrome" was admissible in establishing self-defence for women accused of killing their abusive partners. This book looks at the trials of eleven battered women, ten of whom killed their partners, in the fifteen years since Lavallee. Drawing extensively on trial transcripts and a rich expanse of interdisciplinary sources, the author looks at the evidence produced at trial and at how self-defence was argued. By illuminating these cases, this book uncovers the practical and legal dilemmas faced by battered women on trial for murder.

During the 1970s, grassroots women activists in and outside of prisons forged a radical politics against gender violence and incarceration. Emily L. Thuma traces the making of this anticarceral feminism at the intersections of struggles for racial and economic justice, prisoners' and psychiatric patients' rights, and gender and sexual liberation. All Our Trials explores the organizing, ideas, and influence of those who placed criminalized and marginalized women at the heart of their antiviolence mobilizations. This activism confronted a "tough on crime" political agenda and clashed with the mainstream women's movement's strategy of resorting to the criminal legal system as a solution to sexual and domestic violence. Drawing on extensive archival research and first-person narratives, Thuma weaves together the stories of mass defense campaigns, prisoner uprisings, broad-based local coalitions, national gatherings, and radical print cultures that cut through prison walls. In the process, she illuminates a crucial chapter in an unfinished struggle--one that continues in today's movements against mass incarceration and in support of transformative justice.

Pacific Colony, a Southern California institution established to care for the "feebleminded," justified the incarceration, sterilization, and forced mutilation of some of the most vulnerable members of society from the 1920s through the 1950s. Institutional records document the convergence of ableism and racism in Pacific Colony. Analyzing a vast archive, Natalie Lira reveals how political concerns over Mexican immigration-particularly ideas about the low intelligence, deviant sexuality, and inherent criminality of the "Mexican race"-shaped decisions regarding the treatment and reproductive future of Mexican-origin patients. Laboratory of Deficiency documents the ways Mexican-origin people sought out creative resistance to institutional control and offers insight into how race, disability, and social deviance have been called upon to justify the confinement and reproductive constraint of certain individuals in the name of public health and progress.

Illegal. Underground. Deadly. August 1, 1875, Toronto: The naked body of a young woman is discovered in a pine box, half-buried in a ditch along Bloor Street. So begins Jeannie's Demise, a real-life Victorian melodrama that played out in the bustling streets and courtrooms of "Toronto the Good," cast with all the lurid stock characters of the genre. Historian Ian Radforth brings to life an era in which abortion was illegal, criminal proceedings were a spectator sport, and coded advertisements for back-alley procedures ran in the margins of newspapers. At the centre of the story is the elusive and doomed Jeannie Gilmour, a minister's daughter whose independent spirit can only be glimpsed through secondhand accounts and courtroom reports. As rumours swirl about her final weeks and her abortionists stand trial for their lives, a riveted public grapples with questions of guilt and justice, innocence and intent. Radforth's intensive research grounds the tragedy of Jeannie's demise in sharp historical analysis, presenting over a dozen case studies of similar trials in Victorian-era Canada. Part gripping procedural, part meticulous autopsy, Jeannie's Demise opens a rare window into the hidden history of a woman's right to choose.