What is happening to family law? A feminist critique of conciliation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20054580 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anne Bottomley (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Pages | 162-187 |
| Publication date | 2022-11-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Women-In-Law (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781003329282-8 |
| OpenAlex | W4309589266 |
| ISBN | 9781003329282 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
Crucial structural changes are developing in family law in which the practice of something called conciliation plays a central role. This chapter argues that feminists should be wary of the appealing image of conciliation. The development of in-court conciliation schemes must be placed within the context of the inquisitorial role of the courts in family law. A major theme of many critiques of family law is that it fails to work. Efficacy seems to have become the central rationale in a critique of legal intervention. In the present situation the use of lawyers, arguments around the procedural safeguards of formal justice may well serve women’s interests better than regulation through a more informal, welfarist approach which seems to emphasise party control and choice. In criticising conciliation we are led into a celebration of formal justice, a sharing of its rhetoric rather than recognition of its reality and of seemingly leaving women’s interests in the hands of the state
Art history · Conciliation · Family law · Happening · Mediation · Performance art · Political science · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Legal Issues in South Africa · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,16 |
| Citation span | 1989 - 2010 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |