Gender Perspectives in Private Law (Gender Perspectives in Law, 4)

This book discusses prominent and controversial gender-related issues across the fields of family law, tort law, labour law, civil procedure law, ADR and private international law. An important critical assumption made by the authors is that the gender equality perspective has been largely neglected in several branches of private law, since scholars researching the intersection between gender and legal studies are mostly focused on public law and human rights law. In light of that, the book contributes not only to the deconstruction of gender-blind private law, but also to the development of a gender-competent analysis of the key branches of private law, starting with private international law.

Gender perspective in family law is analyzed on the basis of gendered and heteronormative operations of family law with reference to the formation of legally recognized relationships, the establishment of legal parenthood, the division of marital property after a divorce, and the arrangements for post-separation parenting. Also, regulation of family matters in Indian society and the gender equality perspective from the principle of the child’s best interest are considered. As far as tort law is concerned, the book addresses compensation for damages suffered by women performing unpaid household work. Further, it contains papers dedicated to the following labour law issues: the genesis of labor law and its capacity to contribute either to worsening gender inequality in the world of work or to promoting gender equality; gender segregation in the labour market and its connection to family-friendly policies in the European Union; sexual harassment at work; and the impact of work digitalization on gender-related labour law issues. Lastly, the authors analyze gender equality in civil procedural law, as well as in mediation as a tool for encouraging the peaceful settlement of disputes. The book is intended to improve awareness of the wide range of private law issues that are important for understanding the ways in which gender inequality shapes everyday experiences, while also presenting critical considerations of the key private law instruments for achieving gender equality.

Gabriele Carapezza Figlia is Full Professor of Civil Law and Head of the Department of Law, University LUMSA. Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Law at the University of Sannio, under the guidance of Prof. Pietro Perlingieri (2007), he currently holds the Chair of “Civil Law” and “Comparative Law” at the Department of Law, University LUMSA. He is member of the Commission for National Scientific Qualification (ASN 2021-2023) and lay member of the Judicial Council of the Court of Appeal of Palermo. He is also Ordinary Member of numerous italian and foreign Academies and Research Centers, including: Italian Society of Civil Law Scholars (SISDiC); Italian Society for Research in Comparative Law (SIRD); Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA); Instituto de Derecho Iberoamericano; Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos de Responsabilidade Civil (IBERC). He has been teaching and planning lectures and seminars for various Italian and European Universities. Author of various monographs, articles and essays published in Italy and abroad, his monography “Divieto di discriminazione e autonomia contrattuale” was awarded as the best monographic work on Civil law published in 2013 by the SISDiC. He is member of the Scientific Board of many italian and foreing scientific reviews; member of various Research Projects financed by the European Union, the Italian Ministry for Research and the Spanish Ministry for Research and scientific responsible of several research projects. He has participated as a speaker at numerous conferences, scientific seminars and workshops in Italy and abroad. His actual research activity mainly focuses on property law, non-discrimination law, persons and family law.

Ljubinka Kovačević is a Full Professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. Prior to joining this Faculty in 2005, she was a researcher at the Institute of Comparative Law in Belgrade. Currently, she is teaching the following courses: Labour law; International labour law;Social security law; Labour and social law in the EU – human rights aspects; Sources of labour law. She is the author of three monographs ("Legal Subordination in Employment Relationship and Its Limitations" /2013/, "Valid Reasons for Dismissal" /2016/ and "Entering into Employment Relationship" /2021/) and many papers on Serbian, international and comparative labour law.

Eleonor Kristofersson is since 2010 a Full Professor in Law at Örebro University in Sweden. Since 2009 she is a teacher at Salzburg University’s summer school in comparative and international private law. Her main research focus is tax law, but she has also publications in private law, and teach both tax law and private law. She has a broad interdisciplinary experience and is coordinating the research schools on ageing research at Örebro University.