Book Review: The Sex of Labour Law in Europe
| Author | Jo Shaw |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/135822919900300405 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
International Journal
of
Discrimination and the Law, 1999, Vol. 3, pp. 299-303
1358-2291/99 $10
© 1999 A B Academic Publishers. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK REVIEWS
THE SEX OF LABOUR LAW IN EUROPE. LE SEXE DU DROIT DU
TRAVAIL EN EUROPE.
Y.
Kravaritou (ed.). The Hague/London/Boston:
Kluwer Law International,
1996.
This bi-lingual volume
of
papers represents the output from a sem-
inar under the same name held at the European University Institute in
November 1992 and organised under the direction
of
the editor. The
introduction and concluding chapters presented by the editor are in
French, as are two other substantive chapters.
The
remaining six
chapters are in English.
The
contributors come from a wide variety
of
backgrounds in terms
of
nationality, practical and academic
experience, and theoretical frame
of
reference. Hence we have a
somewhat eclectic and at times rather uneven collection, which is
organised around the proposition that labour law does not take
women sufficiently seriously, and that its de
facto
'sexualisation'
should be the subject
of
critique. That critique is driven by the use
of
concepts such as equality and difference, economic independence,
dependence and interdependence, ftexibilisation
of
labour and labour
markets, and the relationship between law and social practices. The
critique reveals a hidden -
or
sometimes not so hidden -gender
of
labour law which is premised on the model
of
the male worker.
Much
of
the construction
of
the work is also embedded in a charac-
teristically
'male'
organisation
of
time. The result is the devaluing
of
women's
typical career patterns, the refusal to take into account
(unpaid) caring work over the life course, and the enduring difficult-
ies, especially for women,
of
satisfactorily combining career develop-
ment and personal development.
The
essential vocation
of
the eight substantive papers provided
by a group
of
eminent contributors is to provide reflections upon dif-
ferent national systems
of
labour law. The concentration is upon
some
of
the countries
of
the European Union: Belgium
(Vogel-Polsky), Germany (Scheiwe), France (Junter-Loiseau), Italy
(Borgogelli), the United Kingdom (O'Donovan), the Netherlands (in
two papers by Wentholt and Holtmaat) and Denmark (Petersen).
Many
of
the papers directly
or
indirectly also discuss relevant
EU
legislation such as the Equal Treatment Directive
of
1976 and
important Court
of
Justice case law. Although labour law is the prim-
ary focus, some
of
the contributors directly address the essential link
to social security, family law and policy, and other policies which
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