‘Is this a time of beautiful chaos?’: reflecting on international feminist legal methods

Bird, F. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6867-1690 (2020) ‘Is this a time of beautiful chaos?’: reflecting on international feminist legal methods. Feminist Legal Studies, 28 (2). pp. 179-203. ISSN 0966-3622 doi: 10.1007/s10691-020-09434-2

Abstract/Summary

This article considers how Margaret Jane Radin’s theory of the feminist double bind can bring conceptual clarity to the difficulties feminisms face in engaging with political and legal institutions of global governance. I draw on her theory to reinitiate a conversation on ideal and nonideal theory, in order to answer the call of key proponents in international legal feminism to reevaluate methodologies in critiquing mainstream institutions. By providing an account of how to navigate the double bind, this article brings conceptual clarity to the tension between resistance and compliance that has been argued to lie at the heart of the feminist project in international law. I demonstrate how this theoretical framework can foster greater pluralist perspectives in feminist engagement of ideal theories to temper the deradicalising and conservative risk of navigating feasibility constrained nonideal strategies.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/97990
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s10691-020-09434-2
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item