Legal Feminism: Looking Back, Looking Forward

In 1989, Catharine A. MacKinnon—the founder of Law and Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice—published her groundbreaking work, Toward a Feminist Theory of State. Since that date, her work has been cited countless times and her legal theories have influenced scholars and practitioners throughout the country and across the world.

The Journal’s 35th Anniversary Symposium will honor MacKinnon and her influence on feminist legal theory. Specifically, the Symposium will examine Toward a Feminist Theory of State nearly 30 years after its publication, exploring where the arguments in the book stand today and what has yet to transpire in terms of its vision. Legal scholars and practitioners will comment on MacKinnon’s feminist legal theories as applied to subjects including consent, evolving ideas about gender, international security, poverty, and family violence. MacKinnon will deliver a responsive keynote address. 

AGENDA

7:30 - 8:00am             Registration and Coffee

8:00 - 8:15am             Welcome

• Dean Garry Jenkins
• Professor Jessica Clarke

8:15am - 9:45am        Power, Violence, and the Family

• Michele Goodwin, UC Irvine
• Margaret F. Brinig, Notre Dame
• Joan Meier, George Washington
• Camille Gear Rich, USC
• Moderator: Professor June Carbone

9:45 - 10:00am           Break

10:00 - 11:00am         Feminism, Consent, and Rape Reform                     

• Michelle Madden Dempsey, Villanova
• Stephen Schulhofer, NYU
• Moderator: Professor Jessica Clarke

11:00 - 11:15pm         Break

11:15 - 12:00pm         The Intersection of Feminism and Poverty

• Katharine Bartlett, Duke

12:00 - 12:30pm         Lunch

12:30 - 1:30pm           Changing Ideas about Gender

• Shannon Gilreath, Wake Forest
• Jill Gaulding, Gender Justice
• Moderator: Professor Jill Hasday

1:30 - 1:45pm             Break

1:45 - 2:45pm             Feminism in International Law and Policy

• Max Waltman, Sweden/Harvard
• Catherine Powell, Fordham
• Moderator: Professor Fionnuala Ni Aolain

2:45 - 3:00pm             Break

3:00 - 4:00pm             Keynote

• Catharine A. MacKinnon                                

4:00 - 6:00pm             Reception