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Law, Gender, and Development: Potent Hauntings

  • Kate Bedford EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 27, 2019

Abstract

This article excavates and analyses an early, feminist conversation about law that emerged from foundational texts on Gender and Development (GAD). Rather than starting from current, law-heavy GAD practices, it goes backwards to see what, if anything, some canonical texts published between 1970 and 1989 said about law. My aim is to offer an account of legally-relevant GAD theorising written before the current consensus about law reform as a tool had solidified, and – in so doing – to unsettle that consensus and identify some intellectual inheritances that might offer us an alternative way forward.

Keywords: gender; development; law

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the scholars who have helped me clarify the argument presented here, especially Donatella Alessandrini, Ruth Buchanan, John Harrington, Sonia Lawrence, Amanda Perry-Kessaris, Prabha Kotisworan, Shirin Rai, Sharifah Sekalala, and Ann Stewart. An anonymous reviewer also provided excellent suggestions.

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Published Online: 2019-11-27
Published in Print: 2020-02-25

© 2020 Law and Development Review

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