Book Reviews
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2007.00398.x |
| Date | 01 September 2007 |
| Published date | 01 September 2007 |
Book Reviews
HUMANITY, FREEDOM AND FEMINISM by JILL MARSHALL
(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005, 203 pp., £50.00)
Jill Marshall begins her authoritative book with the ever intriguing question
from Robin West `What is a human being?' (p. 1). She goes on to answer it
through her engagement with an impressive range of sources and scholars to
conclude, hopefully, that `The only way to change ideas of the possible is to
think the impossible, dream and form ideas and mobilise those into concrete
changes.' This she believes `has happened throughout history and will
continue to happen' (p. 167). Read cynically, the argument she constructs
could appear to represent a utopian ideal that bears little resemblance to the
real world. However, having read her compelling book and embraced her
theoretical stance, I echo her hope even if her optimism is less than
infectious.
Marshall explores the relationship between humanity, freedom, and
feminism, the three aspects of the title, and examines each in considerable
depth through a three-part structure which adds lucidity and form to her
argument. Throughout the book she focuses on the differences between
human beings, and factors such as cultural heritage, language, and gender
that distinguish one from another. She goes on to identify the norms and
standards which, when imposed through social structures, can result in
exclusionary tendencies. Having done so, her aim is to assess whether and
how feminist theory can assist in the promotion of ideas of `common
humanity and international human rights standards' (p. 4), which she
achieves through a case study focusing on rape and sexual violence as war
crimes that breach international law and are characterized as crimes against
humanity.
Humanity, Freedom and Feminism is ultimately, and centrally, concerned
with ideas about how to make women's lives better by ensuring that they are
recognized as human beings. To be identified as such, they must be accepted
as full legal subjects with the ability, as well as the right, to exercise their
own freedom of choice and action. Marshall starts from the premise that
`traditional Western conceptions of the human being have failed to encom-
pass all human beings' (p. 1), by which she means that legal theory has
excluded women from the category of human being. She then explores what
it is to be human with a view to suggesting why women have been excluded
and how to define humanity more inclusively. To do this, she interrogates
ideas of liberal humanitarianism and argues that through a reassessment and
reinvention of social structures and norms, women and men can come to
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ß2007 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2007 Cardiff University Law School. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
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