Women and the Law [Paperback]

This is an original and incisive analysis of pressing legal issues ranging from low pay, sexual harassment, and flexible working to parental rights and reverse discrimination. The book locates women's role in the family as a contributory factor to their continued disadvantage within the paid workforce. Yet, in signalling the way forward, the author rejects the notion that the answer is to simply to slot more women into existing structures. Instead of expecting women to conform to systems which exclude and devalue caring responsibilities, she argues, real change will only occur if paid work is restructured so that both men and women can be active participants in family life as well as in the paid workforce. This book does not, however, offer single dimensional solutions. In particular, the very difficult conflicts of interest that can arise between and among women--on grounds of class or race, for instance--are directly confronted.

One: Myths and Messages
Two: Theoretical Perspectives
Three: Past and Present: Legal Developments
Four: Past and Present: Women's Work
Five: Women Today
Six: Pregnancy and Parenthood
Seven: The State of Pay
Eight: Structural Disadvantage
Nine: Enduring Disadvantage
Ten: The Role of Law

Sandra Fredman is a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Exeter College, Oxford. She is the co-author of two books on labour law (see below), and lectures on labour law, and on women and the law.