Subversive sites : feminist engagements with law in India /

Using a poststructural approach, these feminist legal scholars argue that law should be viewed as a site of discursive struggle. After briefly reviewing the history of movements for women's rights in India, they examine how a dominant familial ideology shapes the legal regulation of women in its moral and economic dimensions and undermines efforts to advance women's claims through legal strategies. They consider the ways in which the Hindu Right and feminists have tried to use legal discourse to advance contending political agendas, and they critically evaluate various feminist strategies: litigation, law reform, and legal literacy. Calling for a feminist engagement with the law that begins "with a thorough interrogation of limitations of law," the authors remain cautiously optimistic about the potential of legal literacy campaigns to empower women. Written in a clear style and providing a thoughtful examination of the Indian context, this book draws creatively on the work of international feminist legal scholars and activists to make an important contribution to feminist social theory. It both synthesizes existing frameworks and offers a new vision. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. G. Everett; University of Colorado at Denver