Reaction and Resistance

Reaction and Resistance adds to the extant critical and feminist theorizing about the workings of social movements and counter-movements. Their research provides empirically grounded knowledge that feminists and other social activists can draw on in developing new legal and political strategies…. The contributors, taken together, bring an interdisciplinary, historically informed approach to the analysis of feminism, law, and social change. The chapters provide exemplars of the complete range of issues that feminists have addressed. They build on and expand the existing work and synthesize knowledge about the dynamics and impacts of feminist social movements. SirReadaLot, February 2008

This text provides an analysis of the resistance to feminism evident in the Courts, government, media and academia. As a result of these views, a wide range of social ills have been allowed to proliferate including child poverty, sexual harassment and sexual assault. […] The book is a well organized outline of what remains to be done, and what can be done, to achieve equality between men and women. Ronald F. MacIsaac, Verdict, Issue 116, March 2008

This is an excellent collection that gets to the heart of a number of very important policy debates in Canada from a feminist legal standpoint. The two major strands that weave through all of the papers – backlash and the effects of neoliberalism – are very important both theoretically and from an activist perspective. Greater understanding of how these larger social processes work will provide significant strength to scholarly and activist communities. Audrey Kobayashi, Queen’s Research Chair, Department of Geography, Queen’s University