Getting Class

Abstract

Gender-based economic inequality has been a longstanding concern of feminist legal theory, particularly as it affects middle-class women. Yet much legal feminist literature remains uninterested in class analysis. How, then, can a focus on class build on and add to feminist legal theory projects? This Essay is intended to initiate a conversation around that question, more than to provide fully formed theories, strategies, or answers. The first part of this Essay briefly provides some examples of insufficient attention to class in legal feminism and other left critical theories in law. The second part explores five possible strategies for overcoming this problem, taking an intersectional approach. I choose my examples from employment discrimination and family law, but the analysis may well apply to other areas.

Keywords: economics, inequality, class, gender, race, queer theory, structuralism, discrimination, sexual harassment, family law, equality