An Empowered Court - by Heidi E Rademacher (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How feminist labor transformed a New York court serving survivors of human trafficking

Can feminism function in historically "non-feminist" spaces like the American legal system -- even when the people doing the labor don't view their work as "feminist"? In this timely and fascinating book, Heidi E. Rademacher explores how one court in New York worked to empower some of the most vulnerable members of society: justice-involved women who are survivors or at risk of sexual exploitation.

Drawing on ethnography and interviews with a presiding judge, court staff, and service providers, Rademacher provides an on-the-ground look at what she calls "reflecting feminism" -- the practice of enacting feminist principles while mirroring them back through non-feminist language. She shows how feminist labor can be foundational in the justice system and create new opportunities for women's empowerment, even when that system has historically failed to deliver justice for at-risk women -- and even when the actors advancing these goals do not identify as feminist activists.

Using a social movement lens, Rademacher traces the unrecognized dimensions of the larger feminist labor structures necessary for gender equality and women's empowerment, revealing what it looks like when feminism spills over beyond the arenas of organized activism. Ultimately, An Empowered Court shows how feminist labor extends well beyond traditional mobilizing efforts, and how feminist activism itself can be transformed by work undertaken outside a social movement. Delving into the gendered complexities of the criminal justice system, Rademacher shines a light on specific feminist strategies and practices that courts can use to better support survivors of human trafficking and women in general.

Review Quotes

"Grounded in detailed ethnographic research, An Empowered Court highlights the various ways feminist theories can be actualized in criminal justice practice."-- "Susan Dewey, co-author of Outlaw Women: Prison, Rural Violence, and Poverty in the New American West"

About the Author

Heidi E. Rademacher is Associate Professor of Sociology at SUNY Brockport and the co-editor of the De Gruyter Handbook of Contemporary Development Sociology.