Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform (Feminisms and Development) - Softcover

'The essays in this wonderful collection range across different jurisdictions and legal systems (in the Middle East and North Africa, Bangladesh, Ghana and Brazil) to present deeply contextualized examinations of the origins of and relationship between feminist action and legal change. The material is rich and the analyses compelling; it really is a significant contribution.' Lynn Welchman, professor of law in the Middle East and North Africa, SOAS 'Law has been both a tool for marginalizing women and a pathway to their empowerment. This is a timely collection of case studies of feminist struggles for legal reform, both successes and failures, in diverse contexts in the Middle East, West Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. It sheds much new light on the complex relationship between feminist activism and legal reform.' Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, SOAS, and founding member of Musawah (www.musawah.org). 'This exciting collection is a major contribution to the scholarship of feminist social change activism everywhere. Analytically and methodologically sophisticated case studies consider the large and complicated historical, social, economic, cultural, and educational forces faced by women in their struggles for legal reform. These engaged articles and the book as a whole focus deeply perceptive and respectful attention on the urgent strategic issues faced by feminist activists of all stripes, drawing vital lessons for us all.' Angela Miles, University of Toronto

This ground-breaking collection investigates the relationship between feminist activism and legal reform as a pathway to gender justice and social change. Since the advent of feminist movements legal reform has been a popular and yet contentious vehicle for seeking women's rights and empowerment. This important book looks at comparative insights drawn from field-based research on the processes, the challenges, and the outcomes of legal reform and feminist activism. Feminist Activism, Women's Rights, and Legal Reform brings together cases from Middle East, Latin America, and Asia of the successes and failures of reform efforts concerning the promulgation and implementation of new family laws and domestic violence codes.