Full Description
With contributions from some of the most prominent voices writing on gender, law and religion today, this book illuminates some of the conflicts at the intersection of feminism, theology and law. It examines a range of themes from the viewpoint of identifiable traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, from a theoretical and practical perspective. Among the themes discussed are the cross-over between religious and secular values and assumptions in the search for a just jurisprudence for women, the application of theological insights from religious traditions to legal issues at the core of feminist work, feminist legal readings of scriptural texts on women's rights and the place that religious law has assigned to women in ecclesiastic life. Feminists of faith face challenges from many sides: patriarchal remnants in their own tradition, dismissal of their faith commitments by secular feminists and balancing the conflicting loyalties of their lives. The book will be essential reading for legal and religious academics and students working in the area of gender and law or law and religion.
Contents
Contents: Foreword; Preface; Part I Feminist Legal Theory - Religious and Secular Encounters: A contemporary Catholic theory of complementarity, Elizabeth R. Schiltz; Deconstructing equality in religion, Cheryl B. Preston; The Catholic Church and women: the divergence between what is said and what is heard, Susan J. Stabile; What is the matter with Antigone?, Emily Hartigan. Part II Theological Insights Applied to Dilemmas of Women's Social Existence: Privatizing diversity: a cautionary tale from religious arbitration in family law, Ayelet Shachar; From third wave to third generation: feminism, faith, and human rights, M. Christian Green; A meditation on mahr, modernity and Muslim marriage contract law, Asifa Quraishi-Landes; Co-creating the family: a Lutheran view of marriage and divorce law, Marie A. Failinger; With compassion and lovingkindness: one feminist Buddhist's exploration of feminist domestic violence advocacy, Deborah J. Cantrell; 'Men are the protectors of women' negotiating marriage, feminism and (Islamic) law in American Muslim efforts against domestic violence, Juliane Hammer; Why Muslim women are re-interpreting the Qu'ran and Hadith: a transformative scholarship-activism, Nimat Hafez Barazangi. Part III Feminist Readings of Scriptural Texts on Women and Women's Rights: Modesty disrobed - gendered modesty rules under the monotheistic religions, Frances Raday; Jewish law: the case of wife-beating, Naomi Graetz; Competing approaches to rape in Islamic law, Hina Azam. Part IV Women's Leadership and Standing within Religious Communities: Catholic women and equality: women in the code of Canon Law, Sara Butler; Daughters of the Buddha: the Sakyadhita movement, Buddhist law and the position of Buddhist nuns, Rebecca Redwood French; Chinese women lawyers and judges as priests, Mary Szto; Index.
