Early modern Scotland was a religious society where the doctrine of Calvinism permeated everyday life in the localities through the official regulation of personal behaviour. Recent historical studies have debated the nature and experience of social control in Scotland between 1560 and 1780, including the importance and influence of gender, geographic location and social status. Where such studies have traditionally focussed on kirk session minutes as a lone source, the thesis engages with this debate by employing an ‘all courts’ approach to examine social control, family structures and interpersonal relationships. In doing so, it departs from the binary division of gender and contributes to a wider thematic historiography involving patriarchy, family and household that is present in contemporary English and Continental scholarship. In Scotland, although the period between 1560 and 1640 has received attention from historians, there is no focussed study of these themes for the period between 1610 and 1640. The thesis employs evidence from secular and ecclesiastical court records drawn from ten parishes across East Lothian to analyse the structure of the operational court system in Haddingtonshire and to examine social control and notions of honour and shame. Focus is given to how these two concepts interacted with popular experiences of household life, sexual relationships, violent actions and violent words. Its central argument is that, between 1610 and 1640, there was a localised experience of social control and authority in East Lothian, which was administered through an integrated justice network of civil and ecclesiastical courts that was influenced by gender roles, ideas of patriarchy and the importance of social status.

Diss. Lund : Lunds universitet, 2007. / S. 413-447: Bibliografi.

A study of Imāmī Islamic law, gender and soteriology; marriage and divorce as technologies of the self. / This dissertation explores marriage in Muslim Imāmī juristic law as an embodiment of a set of practices that are aimed at cultivating the pious and virtuous self. As a ritual practice for mainstream Imāmī jurists, marriage (and its corollary activities, e.g. sex) was a mode of pietistic self-fashioning and hence a technology of the self. When faced with the strong possibility or inevitability of marital breakdown, and the sexual sins that may have come about as a result of this breakdown, Imāmī jurists opted for creating a space for women’s prerogative to divorce in which the marriage could end whilst still upholding Islam as a program for the circumvention of sin and the production of īmān. Divorce, in this sense, can be thought of as a safety mechanism and extension of marriage’s program for the nurturing of a pietistic psychology in men and women. The textual and gendered discourse of juristic law was therefore aimed at creating a legal program for individuals so as to maintain the normative Muslim’s ontological bond with God through a series of regulations, disciplines, bodily practices and juristically permitted gendered power inversions that promoted soteriological success. This study argues that the primary concern of Imāmī jurists was not to maintain a gendered hierarchy as the current dominant scholarship holds, but to prevent sin, especially zinā, the corruption of the qalb (metaphysical heart) and ultimately avoid damnation in the Hereafter. For Imāmī jurists, marriage was not just a procedural practice of rights and duties, but a mode of self-development and a platform through which an eschatological battle against sexual sin and the Devil took place in. When patriarchy, or more specifically, asymmetrical power relations between (actual/potential) wives and husbands (or guardians) conflicted with the soteriological aims of juristic discourse, the former was inverted. The study concludes that maintaining gender hierarchy was not integral to the cosmology of juristic practice (even in its premodern discourse); it was maintaining the normative believer’s ontological bond with God and saving him/her, as well as the believing community, from damnation. Theological concerns for salvation - and the cultivation of the pious self that made salvation possible – is what animated Imāmī juristic discourse and not patriarchy whether it was obtained from the source-texts (Qur’an, ḥadīth) or social custom (ʿurf). This study undertakes this task by observing six key areas in the Imāmī tradition where notions of salvation and spiritual ontology in marriage/divorce figure the most prominently: juristic preliminaries on marriage and zinā, interfaith marriage, prepubescent marriage, temporary marriage with zānīyahs, nushūz and khulʿ divorce. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the thesis the aim was to compare the EU legal system with the Swedish national legal system with specific focus on gender discrimination law. Findings showed Sweden applied discrimination law in accordance with EU directives but went further than what the Gender Recast Directive, and the EU law itself, required of it. Findings also revealed Sweden uses bi- and multilateral agreements to further EU discrimination law. If such agreements are in accordance with EU primary laws, to which Sweden as a member state has agreed to follow when it acceded to the Union, such agreements will be accepted by the Union. Other findings were related to the Union institutions themselves. These institutions are much more co-dependent than was originally thought and the democratic function of the institutions are treaty secured as far as voting in of representatives to the Parliament give EU citizens power to influence legislation of the EU, likewise the European Citizens’ Initiative giving each EU citizen a chance to propose new legislation. Regulations that are deemed, by member states, to be in breach of EU primary law can be tried and interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union and if said regulation is deemed being in breach of EU primary law it can be annulled.

This thesis explores the ways in which Islamic law and human rights interact within the work of women’s rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that advocate the reform of the Egyptian Personal Status Law (PSL) in the period between 2006 and 2010. The thesis shows the relevance of the human rights framework as well as the flexibility of Islamic legal discourse in the work of the NGOs. Drawing on both Islamic law and human rights enabled NGOs to develop a more gender-sensitive religious discourse, which supported their PSL reform demands. However the interaction between these two frameworks was largely affected by several important factors, which sometimes led NGOs to dilute some of their demands. These factors included the implications of the change in the form of Shari‘a as codified law under the modern nation-state; the Egyptian political context both internally and externally; the common local perception that human rights are a Western production and an extension of Western colonialism; the dominant religious but patriarchal discourse governing the PSL; the implications of activism through the NGO structure; and the personal religiosity of individual activists. The thesis explores NGOs’ PSL reform demands in depth bearing in mind these factors. It investigates NGOs’ discourse and shows its strengths and weaknesses. It shows that the interaction between Islamic law and human rights within NGOs’ work in this particular Egyptian context produced reform demands that were innovative and practically appealing on one hand, but epistemologically problematic in some instances, on another.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Gerad Middendorf / This study examines the issue of gender bias and other gendering processes within the profession of law in Kansas. Although women have made great strides toward equality within the law profession, there are still glaring disparities between men’s and women’s occupational attainment. Women enter law school at similar rates as men do; however, they are not similarly represented in the legal profession upon graduation, or throughout their careers. Utilizing a theory of gendered organizations, this study seeks to investigate what impact, if any, certain sociodemographic factors, sector of law, mentorship, and perceptions of discrimination, have on women’s levels of job satisfaction. To accomplish this goal, this study makes connections between previous research conducted by the Kansas Bar Association, and more recent survey data modeled after the original KBA research. Underlying structures and ingrained interactions are examined quantitatively, to gain a better understanding of the gendered processes that women experience within the profession of law in Kansas.

This thesis analyzes the right to reconcile work and family responsibilities which is recognized as crucial in women&amp / #8223 / s participation in the labor market. When women can not fully enjoy their right to work due to the burden of unequal gender division of labor, they become more vulnerable to poverty and male violence which impede them from developing their basic human capabilities. States should acknowledge that this is a human rights problem which is deriving from women&amp / #8223 / s overburden as primary caregivers. In order to overcome this problem and transform the patriarchal structure of the market and the family / state intervention in the private sphere is required. Two alternative reconciliation models are examined. The first is the equality driven model that encompasses parental leave and childcare facilities, which necessitate positive intervention of the state and more likely to trigger structural change. The other is the flexibility or market driven model which is based on part-time work and homeworking strategies. They target women&amp / #8223 / s participation in the labor market without necessarily leading to any change in the gender divisionof labor. The effectiveness of these strategies is analyzed within a feminist jurisprudence method. While the focus is on the international framework, including the EU Member States, the specific case of Turkey is also considered. Given Turkey&amp / #8223 / s socio-economic particularities, childcare largely depends on kinship relations and social policies regulating women&amp / #8223 / s labor market participation are market driven. The data shows that women in Turkey do not equally enjoy their economic and social rights. Therefore, by examining the international framework for right to reconcile work and family responsibilities, it is hoped that a case can be made to call on Turkey to abide by its international obligations to grant this right.

Diploma thesis "The Public Defender of Rights as a Gender Equality Body" explores the jurisdiction of the ombudsman in the area of equal treatment and prohibition of discrimination (so-called Equality Body). The main focus of the work is the equality of men and women. The methodology used is theoretical-analytical legal analysis. The work starts with a theoretical analysis of basic terms and concepts relating to equal treatment and prohibition of discrimination. The institution and activities of the ombudsman are also defined in theory. This is followed by a legal analysis of three types. The first one is a procedural analysis of anti-discrimination laws (method of their enactment, past, present and proposed laws). This is followed by an institutional analysis of the Czech Equality Body and the impact of the ombudsman in the area of equal rights. The analytical research is concluded with a substantive legal analysis of selected cases decided by the ombudsman. Methods of feminist legal analysis have been predominantly used for the purposes of the analytical research. A wide area of the subject matter has been explored by use of this examination, which has produced a number of conclusions as well as a complete overview of the activities of the Equality Body in the Czech Republic. Possible changes,...

Mit dem Begriff Diskriminierung wird der benachteiligende, herabsetzende oder abwertende Umgang mit Personen, die (imaginierten) gesellschaftlichen Gruppen zugeordnet werden, beschrieben. Diesem gehen psychologische Dynamiken der Stereotypisierung sowie historisch komplexe soziale Prozesse und Strukturen der Differenzierung und Hierarchisierung voran. Aufgrund sozialer, politischer und wissenschaftlicher Auseinandersetzungen ist Diskriminierung mittlerweile nicht nur als (Menschen-)Rechtsverletzung anerkannt, sondern permanent Gegenstand von Kontroversen über die (Il-)Legitimität von (Un-)Gleichbehandlung.