Feminist analyses of law and human rights provide some of the most significant and challenging explanatory frameworks for understanding the practice and organisation of laws and legal institutions, both at a national and international level. Part 1 of this course will trace the 'evolution' of feminist theorising about law and human rights regimes, including the early critiques of legal liberalism, the development of different models of equality, and the feminist engagement with postmodernism and postcolonialism. There will be a particular emphasis on work that examines the intersections between categories such as race, gender, disability, class and sexuality, rights based strategies for reform, and feminist analyses of international law regimes.

Part 1 will provide students with a background in a range of theoretical perspectives, with materials drawn from feminist legal and social theory, to apply in the analysis of the specific case studies relating to legal regulation, and the protection of human rights in Part 2 of the course. These case studies may include: the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the significance of gender and sexuality in claims for refugee protection, the role of public interest advocacy organisations, issues affecting Indigenous women in Australia and overseas, and the effectiveness of current anti-discrimination regimes.

Human Rights and Social Justice.

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Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer at the beginning of session.