Overview
- Expands the boundaries of existing understandings of vulnerability by recognising its multifarious, temporal nature
- Engages thoroughly and critically with the literature in the field on vulnerability theory and 'relational autonomy'
- Argues for the importance of a 'responsive state' that values 'dependency work' in the family which should be recognised as an essential aspect of citizenship
- Speaks to those interested particularly in family law, feminist theory, critical approaches to law, and social justice
Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies (PSLS)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (8 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book breaks new theoretical ground by constructing a framework of ‘relational vulnerability’ through which it analyses the disadvantaged position of those who undertake unpaid caregiving, or ‘dependency-work’, in the context of the private family. Expanding on existing socio-legal scholarship on vulnerability and resilience, it charts how the state seeks to conceal the embodied and temporal reality of vulnerability and dependency within the private family, while promoting an artificial concept of autonomous personhood that exposes dependency-workers work to a range of harms. The book argues that the legal framework governing the married and unmarried family reinforces principles of individualism and rationality, while labelling dependency-work as a private, gendered, and sentimental endeavor, lacking value beyond the family. It also considers how the state can respond to relational vulnerability and foster resilience. It seeks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of resilience, theorising its normative goals and applying these to different hypothetical state responses.
Reviews
“Gordon-Bouvier's book is insightful and beautifully written, with careful and nuanced argumentation. She analyses matters relevant to the private family from a vulnerability perspective. In doing so, she also substantially contributes to academic debate on private family law and to Fineman's vulnerability theory” (Dr Roxanna Dehaghani, Senior Lecturer, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, UK.)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Ellen Gordon-Bouvier is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Relational Vulnerability
Book Subtitle: Theory, Law and the Private Family
Authors: Ellen Gordon-Bouvier
Series Title: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61358-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-61357-0Published: 16 November 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-61360-0Published: 16 November 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-61358-7Published: 15 November 2020
Series ISSN: 2947-9274
Series E-ISSN: 2947-9282
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 203
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Criminal Justice, Human Rights and Crime , Common Family Law, Sociology of Family, Youth and Aging, Victimology, Social Care