Beyond Comparison: Sex and Discrimination

by Timothy Macklem

Overview

Timothy Macklem argues that the heart of discrimination lies not in unfavorable comparisons with the treatment and opportunities that men enjoy, but rather, in a denial of resources and opportunities that women need to lead successful and meaningful lives. This work promises to be a milestone in the debate about gender equality and will interest students and professionals concerned with legal theory and gender studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521826822
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/21/2003
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.79(d)

Table of Contents

1. The issues; 2. Equality; 3. Difference; 4. Reasons for feminism; 5. The value of diversity; 6. The character of disadvantage; 7. The role of sexual identity in a successful life; 8. Equality, difference and the law.

Editorial Reviews

"In developing his thought-provoking conception of sex discrimination in non-comparative terms, Timothy Macklem has made an important contribution both to feminist legal theory and to liberal political theory, while offering us an astute analysis of the work of Drucilla Cornell and Catharine MacKinnon, two of the most intellectually powerful figures in the field of feminist legal scholarship." -Nicola Lacey, London School of Economics

"Beyond Comparison is an utterly novel approach to the understanding of discrimination based on sex. Beginning with a powerful example of whether a woman's naked chest means or ought to mean the same thing as a man's, Macklem explores the nature of sexual difference and its fundamental connections to an objective theory of value. Knowledge of which differences between men and women genuinely matter to sexual identity, Macklem contends, can help us to see when differential treatment is illegitimate disadvantage, and when it is not. Macklem's work should prove equally challenging to those who believe there are essential differences between men and women, and those who believe difference is a matter of social construction." —Leslie Francis, University of Utah

"An interesting, thought-provoking, and at times provoking book. It will reward those sociologists who tackle it with some new and re-framed arguments about the nature of, the causes of, and the solutions to, gender discimination." Canadian Journal of Sociology

From the Publisher