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History Pre-confederation (to 1867)

Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume XII

New Essays in Women's History

edited by Lori Chambers & Joan Sangster

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2023
Category
Pre-Confederation (to 1867), Legal History, Women
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487553906
    Publish Date
    Oct 2023
    List Price
    $95.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487553913
    Publish Date
    Oct 2023
    List Price
    $95.00

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Description

Drawing on engaging case studies, Essays in the History of Canadian Law brings the law to life. The contributors to this collection provide rich historical and social context for each case, unravelling the process of legal decision-making and explaining the impact of the law on the people involved in legal disputes. Examining the law not simply as legislation and institutions, but as discourse, practice, symbols, rhetoric, and language, the book’s chapters show the law as both oppressive and constraining and as a point of contention and means of resistance.

 

This collection presents new approaches and concerns, as well as re-examinations of existing themes with new evidence and modes of storytelling. Contributors cover many legal thematic areas, from criminal to labour, civil, administrative, and human rights law, spanning English and French Canada, and ranging from the mid-eighteenth century to the late twentieth century. The legal cases vary from precedent-setting cases to lesser-known ones, from those driven by one woman’s quest for personal justice to others in which state actors dominate. Bringing to light how the people embroiled in these cases interacted with the legal system, the book reveals the ramifications of a legal system characterized by multiple layers of inequality.

About the authors

Lori Chambers teaches at McMaster University. She is the author of Married Women and Property Law in Western Ontario.

Lori Chambers' profile page

Joan Sangster is a professor of women's studies and history at Trent University, where she also teaches at the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Native Studies. Her most recent books are Girl Trouble: Female 'Delinquency' in English Canada and Transforming Labour: Women and Work in Postwar Canada.

Joan Sangster's profile page

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