The Making(s) of Law

Inspired by intellectuals such as Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Carol Smart and Jacques Derrida, Ida Agering embarks us on a journey to Zambia and unravels gender identities in law, feminist dilemmas and the clash between written and unwritten laws. The study, based on in-depth interviews with thirteen justices working in local courts, explores the role of the justices within the structure of customary law and their role in the discrimination against women that the law allegedly generates. Theoretically situated within postmodern feminist legal theory, the analysis leans on deconstruction of the legal structure and the justices' discourse, after having established the constitutive power of law in terms of gender identities.