Feminism and the Power of Law (Sociology of Law and Crime)

by Carol Smart

Carol Smart presents a new gendered analysis of the power of law and argues for a feminist, post-structuralist approach. She comments on pornography as well as discussing recent research on rape trials and abortion legislation.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Law, Sociology, Academic

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 1989

Reviews

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for work as well. Brilliant.

I loved the parallel she drew between the power that law and science have in shaping moral and societal truths. Although she wrote this book nearly 40 years ago, almost everything she described still holds, which is fundamentally appalling.

Her concluding remarks will stay with me for a very long time, especially the question: Is the law extending a call for greater attention to feminism?

[Narin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing, hat mich mich geöffnet/sensibilisiert für einen noch kritischeren und feministischen Blick auf Recht und unsere Gesellschaft

[l · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was recommended to me in a lecture last year. i don't really understand why as it's old and laws on the issue this book focuses on: pornography, in vitro, sexual assault etc have undergone substantial changes since the 1980s. the basic arguments have some validity still but words like phallogocentric honestly make me cringe though it makes sense given the time it was written in.

[ivorymuse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carol Smart dismantles the long-standing assumption that law is the primary route to feminist empowerment. She warns feminists against the “siren call of law,” arguing that legal engagement often produces effects that worsen the very conditions it seeks to remedy. When these outcomes occur, feminists frequently respond by demanding more legislation—yet this reflex, Smart argues, is precisely the problem.

Law does not stand still, nor does it move in a single direction. It is fluid, internally contradictory, and capable of generating rights alongside counter-rights. As a result, no single or stable feminist strategy can be developed in relation to it. Legal victories often carry unintended consequences: the recognition of abortion rights, for instance, simultaneously enables the construction of foetal rights, thereby re-inscribing control over women’s bodies.

Smart does not call for feminist disengagement from law altogether, but rather for a reorientation. Feminist engagement with law should serve purposes beyond law reform, recognising law’s limits as a site of emancipation and resisting its tendency to reassert power under the guise of progress.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting method, useful history

[Manikya Kodithuwakku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seminal work on the intersections between law, language and literature, and gender studies.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic I often return to for my academic work. I agree with Smart overall and this book is a nice read as well as a great point of reference.

[rania · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit dated (obviously) but provides a decent foundation for approaching the topic. would’ve appreciated more nuance and intersectionality but again works for the time it was written in

[Faye Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, what is important about this book is the critique of law as a mechanism to exert power and maintain the existing status quo, and to refute the idea that law, as a product of this status quo, can be an effective vehicle to dismantle it. So whilst the substantive law may no longer be applicable, these laws act more as a case study, demonstrating why Smart's basic premise is still so relevant.