International Law Modern Feminist Approaches

Over the last 10 years, feminist scholars and activists have turned their attention, and energies to the international realm as both an area seemingly immune to feminist critique and as an arena within which to mobilize for greater rights for women. Feminist scholarship has developed in the areas of international law, international relations and development, bringing a feminist perspective to bear on disciplines otherwise characterised by male dominance. At the same time, feminist activists have emerged as an effective organisational force at the international level, securing substantial gains in human rights and international legal protection for women. The result has been that women's rights, and feminist international activism, has become something of a globalisation phenomenon, and a mainstay of a new activist international order. Within this larger movement of feminist activism and literature, feminist international lawyers have begun to develop diverse critiques of international law and policy. Drawing on various theoretical perspectives and displaying a commitment to interdisciplinarity, feminist international lawyers have sought to interrogate both the foundations and the practice of international law, while offering new insights into the future directions of the discipline. This literature intersects with feminist scholarship on development and international relations, but crucially represents an attempt to develop a nuanced critique of international legal structures otherwise missing from the development studies and IR fields. In a global order in which international legal structures are assuming greater significance, feminist international lawyers are particularly well placed to offer detailed analyses of globalisation and the rule of law, and of the future direction of international political and legal systems. Feminist Perspectives on International Law draws together a number of leading international scholars working in the fields of feminist theory and international law to provide a critical consideration of the scope and direction of the feminist project in international law. This volume offers a timely assessment of new developments in international law, including recent developments in the areas of human rights, international criminal law, environmental law, and economic institutions.