Women's Legal Strategies in Canada

MaDonna R. Maidment is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology
and Anthropology at Carleton University.

This comprehensive book examines the legal strategies that have been
pursued to address women’s social, political, economic, and cultural
inequalities in Canada. The contributors draw attention to a range of
overarching questions, including women’s gains from their pursuit of
legal remedies, the contemplation of law as a fruitful avenue for social
justice struggles, and lessons to be learned from past experiences. The
essays are guided by the implicit assumption that the law—despite its
pitfalls for women of color, immigrants, and other disadvantaged
women—continues to be an important site for feminist struggle.

The contributors are leading scholars in the fields of law, political
science, women’s studies, sociology, and public administration.
Drawing on a number of theoretical approaches, they address various
feminist and leftist critiques regarding the use of the law in general,
and the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in particular, to
bring about social justice. While responding to the criticism that
women’s legal strategies have tended to be reactive rather than
proactive, all contributors see as a positive trend the coalitions of
women’s equality groups seeking redress through legal channels (e.g.,
the recent launch of a human-rights complaint on behalf of federally
sentenced women in Canada).

This book will no doubt be essential reading for academics,
practitioners, lawmakers, and policymakers concerned with social justice
issues in general and women’s equality strategies in particular.