Gender, Justice and Legal Feminism

The edited volume explores the causes, forms, and cultures of gender-based violence in society, including how children are educated, how games, art and even language promote differences, stereotypes, neutrality between men and women. It is a place to reflect on the growing importance of tolerance, diversity and acceptance of others. The book focuses on many facets, whether in a confined or public space, with a series of empirical and theoretical chapters from around the world.

The volume provides key contemporary commentary on the changing dynamics of gender-based violence. It unveils a range of contexts and spaces in which gender-based violence happens, showcasing its scale and impact worldwide. The discussions presented in the book encourage a critical reflection on the global pandemic of gender-based violence, prompting a vital question about the sufficiency and effectiveness of responses to this global crisis (Professor Olga Jurasz, The Open University Law School).

The edited volume aims at presenting the various forms of stereotyping. As a matter of fact, such logical inclination is not only perpetrated through common sense and public discourse, but also through regulation and various ethical practices. Law and politics, indeed, can have a relevant function in preventing the diffusion of bad and wrong gender stereotypes.

"Stereotypes have been and remain a notion central to feminist/ gender inquiry. This edited volume brings forth original perspectives from a wide range of scholars from multiple and diverse angles. The editors, Condello and Wagner, distinguish between the frameworks of mythos, logos and nomos to show how stereotypes are entrenched in cultural narratives, normative systems and language. Authors in the volume explore how stereotypes influence policy, cultural norms and personal identity causing discrimination and exclusion. The volume aptly underscores the importance of recognizing how race, class, ethnicity, religion amongst other identities intersect with power and play out in areas like the media, education and law. 

The various chapters reflect on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to make sense of the persistence of stereotypes. The focus falls for example on gender stereotypes in the city; in textbooks, in criminal law, in the Bildungsroman and in various religious settings.

The volume will be an essential read for anyone concerned about the world as it is trying to make sense of the pervasiveness and endurance of gender injustice. Judith Butler, in her latest work invokes the idea of ‘phantasm’ to illustrate how conservatives and reactionaries from various places have created fears to justify censorship, discrimination and injustice. The various takes on stereotypes in the volume highlights the role they play in putting this ‘phantasm’ to work.

The chapters included here not only expose gender stereotypes and their entanglement with suffering and injustice but it also challenges us to think about and work towards alternatives. It beckons us to put our imaginaries to work, in the words of the editors, to ‘reimagine the world not as it is, but as it could be’."

Karin van Marle, Research Chair Gender, Transformation, Worldmaking, University of the Western Cape