Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus: Gender, Law, and Society - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801489415 ISBN 13: 9780801489419

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2005

Synopsis

"The essays in this volume confront the inroads that economics has made into the legal academy. . . . Law and Economics uses principles of neoclassical economics to develop laws and social policies that maintain if not bolster current allocations of power."-from the IntroductionThe Law and Economics school has had a significant impact on the legal and governmental landscape in the United States. It posits a perfectly rational "economic man"-homo economicus-who is unconstrained by familial and communal ties and who can and should make decisions solely in light of considerations of economic value. Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus offers a major intervention in debates about how law has come under the influence of economic principles. Drawing on the latest thinking in the fields of feminist legal theory, critical legal studies, and feminist economics, the essays critique the notion that legal and policy decisions should be made solely through the lens of economics. While the contributors question the wholesale incorporation of the neoclassical economic model into legal analysis, they do not all discard economic analysis and theory.Situated at the intersection of feminism, law, and economics, Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus will appeal to scholars and students of these disciplines as well as policy analysts and social theorists interested in family, education, labor, and welfare.

About this title

Review

"Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus is an extraordinary volume that brings together a wide selection of important essays at the intersection of feminism, law, and economics. Highly diverse in its methodological and disciplinary orientations as well as in the subject matter it addresses, this book will be of immediate and enduring interest to multiple audiences."

--Teemu Ruskola, American University Law School

Synopsis

The Law and Economics school has had a significant impact on the legal and governmental landscape in the United States. It posits a perfectly rational "economic man" - homo economicus - who is unconstrained by familial and communal ties and who can and should make decisions solely in light of considerations of economic value. Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus offers a major intervention in debates about how law has come under the influence of economic principles. Drawing on the latest thinking in the fields of feminist legal theory, critical legal studies, and feminist economics, the essays critique the notion that legal and policy decisions should be made solely through the lens of economics. While the contributors question the wholesale incorporation of the neoclassical economic model into legal analysis, they do not all discard economic analysis and theory. Situated at the intersection of feminism, law, and economics, Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus will appeal to scholars and students of these disciplines as well as policy analysts and social theorists interested in family, education, labor, and welfare.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0801489415
• ISBN 13: 9780801489419
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 534
• Editor: Fineman Martha, Dougherty Terence