New Book Makes the Case for More Women Judges
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (PRWEB) July 17, 2013 -- With almost 80 vacancies on the federal district and appellate court, the judicial selection process has become the focus of public attention now more than ever. In her timely new book, Gender & Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter, Sally J. Kenney draws from over a decade of research and advocacy to make the case for more women judges. Moreover, Kenney, Tulane University Professor of Political Science and Executive Director of the Newcomb College Institute, also rebuts the belief that women are essentially different than men.
In Gender & Justice, Kenney highlights five jurisdictions and examines women judges in order to understand different political processes: emotions and social movement mobilization in the state of Minnesota; policy implementation in the Carter Administration; agenda setting in the United Kingdom; representation in the European Court of Justice; and backlash in California. Gender & Justice also explores different questions in different North American and European geographical jurisdictions and courts, demonstrating the value of a gender analysis of courts, judges, law, institutions, organizations, and, ultimately, politics. Kenney also rebuts studies that attempt to show women decide cases differently than men and draws on the history of women’s campaigns to serve on juries to show how women can achieve full citizenship without arguing from difference.
A timely, topical and thought-provoking book, Gender & Justice challenges long-held assumptions about the future of women in the judiciary. “Contrary to popular belief, women’s progress is not natural, inevitable or irreversible. The number of women judges will not necessarily grow merely because women make up a greater percentage of the qualified labor pool,” says Kenney.
Hailed as an extremely important book, Gender and Justice provides an accessible discussion of these and other important issues. According to Rosemary Hunter, Professor of Law, Kent University, “In moving beyond familiar socio-legal and political science debates about women judges, and with its breadth of analysis and international scope, this book will be compelling reading for academics, students, policy-makers, and activists around the world.”
A native of Iowa, Sally J. Kenney earned her a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Iowa, a B.A. and M.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University. From 1989-1995, she held a joint appointment in Political Science, Women's Studies, and Law at the University of Iowa. She served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 1995-2009 where she also directed the Center on Women and Public Policy. She joined Tulane University in 2010 as the first Newcomb College Endowed Chair, the executive director of the Newcomb College Institute, and a Professor of Political Science. She is currently studying women state Supreme Court Justices and advocating for more women on the bench.
Published by Routledge, a division of the Taylor & Francis Group, Gender & Justice (ISBN: 978-0-415-88144-9, 328 pages, Trade Paper, $35.95) is also available in a hardcover edition (ISBN: 978-0-415-88143-2, $120.75) and an eBook edition. Visit http://www.genderandjustice.com for details.
Members of the news media wishing to request additional information, a review copy of Gender & Justice or an interview with author Sally J. Kenney are kindly asked to contact Maryglenn McCombs by phone: (615) 297-9875, or email: maryglenn(at)maryglenn(dot)com
Maryglenn Mccombs, MM BOOK PUBLICITY, (615) 297-9875, [email protected]
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