2 - Property Law Revolution, Devolution, and Feminist Legal Theory

Summary

In the rewritten judgments that follow in this volume, authors envision alternatives to existing property cases. In their work, the authors query interpretations in both iconic, well-known property cases and some lesser known cases – for all the cases, in large and small ways, have shaped legal doctrine, processes, and practices. The authors premise their work on the notion that in many instances, judges, despite widely asserted notions of judicial constraint, have choices to make when deciding cases. The adoption of a feminist legal theory (and they are plural), that is, an explicitly feminist consciousness, is one of those choices, and it is a vitally important and necessary choice. Though feminist legal theories frequently promote change to existing legal norms, they do so not only for the sake of change but also to mediate legal, political, social, and economic barriers that limit women’s advancement.¹ Moreover, feminist legal theories often confront the political and moral issues that all too often remain unaddressed, all while, within this silence, these issues work to narrow women’s possibilities. Participant authors in this project engage in exercises that are at once pointed and practical critiques of the law as it is, and also theoretical expositions of what the law could be.