Author Interview: Global Gender Constitutionalism and Women's Citizenship: A Struggle for Transformative Inclusion
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Ruth Rubio-Marin
Universidad de Sevilla
Tell us a little bit about the book.
The book is a first attempt to tell the “herstory” of constitutionalism. It addresses the overarching question of how constitutional law has responded to the evolving claims to full citizenship put forward by women and sexual/gender minorities across time and, on the basis of that, proposes a typology of forms of constitutionalism. It brings together in one narrative account a wide set of topics including abortion and reproductive rights, care, gender-based violence, political quotas, employment discrimination, LGBTI+ rights and the backlash against gender equality. It discusses the ways in which constitutions around the world, overwhelmingly created by men, have served as facilitators or obstacles in addressing the emancipatory claims put forward by dissidents challenging the foundational patriarchal gender order in the DNA of the modern constitutional project.
What inspired you to take up this project?
Since Bev Baines and I edited our first volume on gender and comparative constitutional law (The Gender of Constitutional Jurisprudence, CUP, 2005) this subdiscipline has been flourishing but almost all the work has concentrated on either specific themes or case studies. So, I came to the conclusion that there was a need to bring it all together in some kind of meta-narrative and that this was something I could do. I was also convinced that English-speaking jurisdictions had been overrepresented in the existing literature in the field and wanted to remedy that.
Whose work was influential on you throughout the project?
The book really brings together the many voices of authors and women committed to studying and generating gender responsive constitutions. The work of Carole Pateman and Catharine MacKinnon is foundational, I think, for anyone looking at the state through feminist lenses. Also, the work of some colleagues like Helen Irving and Reva Siegel, has been very inspiring. And Stephanie Coontz’s historical work on the institution of marriage was very helpful in defining the structure. But more than anything, the project feeds from the collective projects resulting in edited volumes I have led in the past together with many other committed scholars across the globe. The cover, which features a picture of the Turkish carpet that sits in my living room, is precisely a metaphor of the collective nature of the endeavour.
What challenges did you face in writing the book?
The book was long overdue and the delay hung over my shoulders for years. Raising two children solo while living up to the many other professional commitments and a hectic travel agenda meant that “getting back to the book” was always delayed. Then, one day, the Covid-19 pandemic came and I could no longer travel. And this allowed the continuity and concentration that a project like this requires. One source of methodological concern throughout the process has been wanting to write something with universal appeal without being too narrowly confined by my situated self and limited knowledge of foreign jurisdictions. Concerned of being not inclusive or intersectional enough was a constant fear. I am sure I have failed but also that I really tried my best.
What do you hope to see as the book’s contribution to academic discourse and constitutional or public law more broadly?
I would hope that the book accomplishes two things. One is to offer a conceptual map and guide for all those scholars interested in a feminist reading of constitutional law, especially the younger generations and, in that, sense, the book also contains a great richness of sources that I am sure will be of help. The second one, is that feminist engagements with constitutional law become more central to the discipline of constitutional law and to the subdiscipline of comparative constitutional law so that, more and more, it is those who ignore this body of scholarship and claim the credentials of being a constitutional law scholar that need to justify themselves.
What’s next?
Next are the sister projects that have accompanied this project in the form of regionally focused collaboration. The reader should know that very soon there will be publications in the form of books or special issues on gender, sexuality and constitutional law focusing on Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. I am also working on a Spanish edition of the book.
Ruth Rubio-Marin is Full Professor of Constitutional Law at Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
Global Gender Constitutionalism and Women's Citizenship is available from Cambridge University Press. Use code GGCWC22 for a 20% discount until December 2023.