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The Study of Law And Its Historiography From A Gender Perspective

Prune Decoux et Hélène Duffuler-Vialle
Cet article est une traduction de :
Interroger le droit et son historiographie au prisme du genre [fr]

Résumés

Exceptées de rares initiatives, la rencontre entre l’histoire du droit et les études de genre est restée encore marginale. C’est pour combler le vide historiographique et fédérer chercheurs et chercheuses que le projet ANR-HLJPGenre a été conçu : destiné à analyser le droit par le prisme du genre, le projet s’est particulièrement attaché à l’étude de la loi formelle et du discours juridique. Les enjeux épistémologiques y tiennent une grande place et permettent de remettre en cause le mythe de la « neutralité axiologique », encore prégnant dans notre discipline. Parallèlement, l’étude de diverses approches méthodologiques ouvre des perspectives pour le renouvellement de l’histoire du droit. C’est dans ce contexte que s’est tenu, à Douai en 2023, le colloque international Discours juridique, genre et histoire. Grâce à l'interdisciplinarité et du décloisonnement des disciplines inhérents aux études de genre, des contributions issues du droit, de l'histoire, de la sociologie, de la science politique, de la linguistique et de la philosophie ont enrichi les réflexions. Certaines de ses interventions, remaniées et enrichies, figurent dans ce numéro aux côtés d’articles autonomes explorant le même thème. 

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Texte intégral

  • 1 Michael Stolleis, « Écrire l’histoire du droit : reconstruction, narration, fiction », Conférence a (...)
  • 2 For a much broader review of literature on this topic, see Florence Renucci's article: « N’en fais (...)
  • 3 See in particular Michèle Bordeaux, « La Grille du Temps : approche lexicale du temps des lois (Cod (...)
  • 4 Jacques Poumarède et Jean-Pierre Royer. Droit, Histoire & Sexualité, Distique, 1987.
  • 5 Also worth mentioning is the work of Claude Alzon, who has a degree in the history of law but is no (...)
  • 6 https://regine.parisnanterre.fr/archives_site_2015/

1In recent years, there have been calls within legal history for a renewal of the discipline's methods and paradigms1, and for it to move closer to critical studies. Critical studies make it possible to renew epistemological and reflexive approaches, to examine power relations, to question the naturalness of certain norms and question the universality and neutrality of law. Gender studies should find its place within this framework. However, legal historians have only been marginally interested in feminist, gender and sexuality issues2. This was the case of Michèle Bordeaux3 and, to a lesser extent, Jacques Poumarède4, both of whom were close to the legal critique movement that emerged in the 1970s5. Following in the footsteps of Michèle Perrot, a few legal historians took up the question of gender in the 2000s. At the same time, and a little later, French legal research officially opened this field of research in the 2010s with the ANR Régine project, which brought together researchers in positive law6.

  • 7 So far, our research team has not identified any French works on gender in legal history prior to 2 (...)
  • 8 The first conference to be organised in France on the history of law from the perspective of gender (...)
  • 9 The proceedings of the conference on 7 May 2015 have been published : Joël Hautebert, Le droit à l’ (...)

2Until 2020, legal history remained a bastion that was generally closed to gender studies, apart from a few very marginal works7. It is even possible to speak of a ‘missed rendez-vous” with gender: researchers in the critical legal movement have mainly studied class power relations and rethought the question of legal education in order to escape from the domination of legal dogma; researchers in the history of colonial law have explored a large number of areas (postcolonial issues, intersecting and even articulated forms of discrimination, legal pluralism, legal gender relations, reflections on marginality and non-legal knowledge), but until recently they did not go into the field of gender and intersectionality. Only one colloquium, prior to the one whose proceedings are the subject of this publication8, dealt with gender in legal history, from a conservative perspective, denoucing the so-called ‘gender ideology’ and the ‘LGBT lobby’9.

3To fill this historiographical and scientific gap, in 2021 the ANR HLJPGenre10 project brought together some fifteen researchers - from the history of law and other disciplines - to officially launch this field of research within the discipline. At the same time, Clio@Themis, one of the leading legal history journals, dedicated a special issue to gender in 202311. The call for papers published for this occasion attracted many proposals from young researchers, demonstrating that the conservatism of the discipline's conservatism is encountering a number of obstacles. The same phenomenon was observed in the spring of 2023 when the international colloquium ‘Discours juridiques, genre et histoire’ (‘Legal Discourse, Gender and History’) was organised12. This event, supported by the ANR HLJPGenre, brought together more than thirty communicants; it is based on the future work of the ANR HLJPGenre13 and was complemented by a colloquium held from 1 to 3 April 2025, on applied law and its practices14.

4In 2025, the acculturation of gender studies in the history of law has thus begun. A brand-new journal held by young researchers in legal history, Mélété, dedicated its first issue to gender15. At the same time, the journal Intersections, created by the coordinators of the ANR Régine, has decided to fully integrate legal history as a branch of legal research in its columns16.

  • 17 Joan Wallach Scott, « Genre : une catégorie utile d’analyse historique », Les cahiers du GRIF, n° 3 (...)

5If gender studies have benefited from the historical approach, the history of law should also see gender studies as an opportunity to be seized. The discipline is under attack in universities, and every time the syllabus is revised, subjects that were once compulsory are turned into optional subjects, if not dropped altogether. But while gender is a ‘useful category of historical analysis’, as Johan Wallach Scott has pointed out17, diachrony is a fundamental dimension of gender analysis. Thus, through gender, legal history can make a strong comeback in legal studies because of the decompartmentalisation and interdisciplinarity to which the handling of this concept leads.

  • 18 The scientific committee for the publication of the conference proceedings included some of the mem (...)

6The journal Criminocorpus, a partner in the ANR HLJPGenre project, is publishing an original dossier containing the proceedings of the conference ‘Legal discourse, gender and history’, selected after a rigorous process18. These proceedings are complemented by articles that were not presented at the conference, but which focus on the gendered analysis of legal discourse. This introductory article, written jointly by us, the coordinators of the ANR HLJPGenre [Prune Decoux and Hélène Duffuler-Vialle], aims to introduce the various themes of the dossier and to explore the question: how can gender be used to renew the history of law?

7Conducting research involves following rules and formal and informal codes that reflect a certain continuity with previous work. In most cases, the novelty of a thesis or research project lies in the creation of a new object and the new knowledge that its study brings. It is not the research methods that are renewed, but the objects. More generally, critical studies invite us not only to think about new objects of research, but also to question the very way in which research is conducted. They invite researchers to reflect on the conditions under which their research is produced.

8Epistemological issues are fundamental to this approach and, as such, feature prominently in this dossier, which challenges the myth of 'axiological neutrality' that is still all too prevalent in our discipline (I). The second part focuses on the different methodological approaches and shows how they can be renewed within the history of law through concepts derived from gender studies (II).

The fundamental place of epistemological questions: deconstructing the myth of axiological neutrality

  • 19 Axiological neutrality is an epistemological position that has been exalted, particularly by formal (...)
  • 20 Julia Morel et Valérie Paquet, « Sur l’idéal de neutralité en recherche. Bachelard, Busino et Olivi (...)

9Who are we as researchers? How do we do science? What is our place in research and what is the place from which we do our research? What is the difference between neutrality, objectivity and subjectivity? Is the ideal of axiological neutrality in the production of knowledge possible, realistic or even desirable? Can we be objective or are we inherently subjective? What is our relationship to the object of our study? What are our possible biases? How can we take them into account so that we can eventually get rid of them or incorporate them into the analysis? These are all questions that many legal historians avoid, evade or reject, even though they are central questions in the other humanities and social sciences. Indeed, many disciplines have long since abandoned the supposedly 'scientific' stance of research, free of all contingencies linked to the person who produces it. The myth of axiological neutrality19 does not stand up to an analysis of the conditions under which science is produced, and critical epistemology has established that researchers are socially and historically situated: we are conditioned to think according to a certain set of determinants, both external and internal, which are part of the social conditions in which we find ourselves20.

10The contributions of feminist epistemologies, known as point-of-view epistemologies, also highlight the prevalence of androcentrism in scientific research. The subject 'woman' is seen as 'other', while the subject 'man' is seen as universal, in a kind of confusion with the semantics that position the masculine as both generic and inclusive of the feminine. Scientific knowledge, research practices and scientific institutions have historically been shaped by biases in favor of male and female perspectives. Several historical, social and cultural factors explain this situation.

11First, women were historically excluded from education and science. Then, when they did gain access, they were made invisible and their contributions to science were minimised, ignored or even attributed to men, as was the case with Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of DNA. Scientific institutions, characterised by power dynamics, have reproduced the patriarchal systems of the societies in which they are embedded. Women have little incentive, if not discouragement, to pursue scientific careers: stereotypes that men are 'better at math' and more suited to science, rationality and logic persist to this day. If, despite these initial obstacles, they do manage to enter these circles, they are confined to subordinate positions or excluded from decision-making processes. This has contributed to a vicious circle in which the lack of women in science reinforces the androcentric perception of knowledge.

  • 21 For a good summary of feminist epistemologies, see Flores Espínola, « Subjectivité et connaissance  (...)

12Second, research priorities have often been driven by male interests, neglecting issues that specifically affect women or require a gender perspective. In medicine, for example, clinical trials have long been conducted mainly on men, as the male body has been considered the 'neutral' and universal body. This has led to the under-representation of women, to care that is sometimes inappropriate for them, and to research topics that are completely hidden: witness the lack of interest that has long surrounded endometriosis. Not only do scientific theories make women and the issues that affect them invisible, they also sometimes incorporate gender bias. For example, biological assumptions have been used to justify social inequalities21.

  • 22 This publication should be read in link with Sabrina Michel's article on menstruation at the end of (...)

13In contrast to these findings, Maéva Caron-Thérage does not hesitate to make menstruation a legal issue in her article 'Le congé menstruel: entre avancée sociale et biais discriminatoire'. It provides an in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding menstruation in labour law, recent policy initiatives in this area and the debates surrounding the potential risks of discrimination. The author explains that the introduction of menstrual leave requires greater awareness and a rethink of the way it is organised to combat systematic discrimination; however, if it is designed in a concerted and inclusive manner, it could represent a major social advance22.

14In this way, the renewal of the discipline through gender studies makes it possible both to highlight the androcentrism of the law and to attempt to counterbalance it by encouraging research into issues that are considered subsidiary, unworthy of being established as a legal subject because they are specifically female or fall outside the traditional heteronormative framework.

15In general, the history of women and sexuality is absent from historiography, except for a few works that treat 'woman' as a reified otherness. Other works avoid this pitfall but do not explicitly question the essentialism of the difference between men and women. Nevertheless, gendered approaches make it possible to renew the historiography of the discipline and to reintegrate the experiences of certain marginalised groups, particularly women and gender minorities, into the history of law. In addition, the analysis of archives, personal accounts and cultural representations highlights the often-hidden contributions of women to the practice and development of law.

16For example, Hend Guirat and Florence Renucci's article 'Avocates et accusées dans l'ombre virile du prétoire. Biais de genre, agentivité et colonialité sous le protectorat tunisien'. They highlight the marginalisation of women in the Tunisian criminal justice system during the Protectorate, while underlining their agentivity in a gendered and colonial environment. By exploring the interactions and biases present in the courtroom, they provide a relational and critical perspective on the role of women in a justice system characterised by multiple hierarchies of power.

17Mathilde Van Ackere's 'Femmes et magistrature non-professionnelle : la mobilisation ambivalente des stéréotypes de genre. Mise en parallèle des cas belge et français' looks at the process of feminisation of the lay judiciary in France and Belgium, examining parliamentary debates and resistance based on stereotypes of 'feminine nature' and 'family law'. She highlights the gendered representations that influenced both opponents and supporters and reveals the ambivalence of progressive discourse at the time, which was still imbued with gendered constraints.

18Claire Bouglé-Leroux examines the controversy over women's capacity to arbitrate under the Ancien Régime, showing how this debate went beyond legal technique to reflect gender power relations. Parler pour ne rien dire? Retour sur la controverse ancienne du sexe de l'arbitre (XVe-XVIIIe siècle)' looks back at the fictional case of Austreberte de Jean Pontas and reveals the symbolic reversal of traditional roles and the tensions surrounding the figure of the 'female arbiter', perceived as both authoritarian and contested. By analysing the gender stereotypes underlying the doctrinal arguments, the author situates this dispute within a broader history of debates about the place of women in spheres of authority. Her work demonstrates how gender as an analytical tool sheds light not only on this controversy, but also on the process of feminisation of the legal profession.

  • 23 Donna Haraway, “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial (...)
  • 24 Flores Espínola, op. cit.

19Deconstructing the androcentrism of science does not mean that feminine or marginalised perspectives are intrinsically more valid. The idea of such ‘epistemic privilege’, based on essentialist or constructivist grounds, has been developed from time to time by philosophers and sociologists of science; it has now been abandoned, thanks in particular to the contributions of intersectional approaches - what about black women in research? - and reflections on situated points of view23. It now seems that it is the multiplicity of points of view, collectively rather than individually, that makes it possible to achieve a plurality of subjects and standpoints, and thus a better overall understanding24.

20These reflections can/should lead legal historians and legal researchers to ask themselves questions about their relationship to their subject of study: why this choice of subject? What is their personal or social relationship with their field of study? What resonates with their own history? How did they arrive at this research question, at their interest in these sources in particular? Do their conclusions reflect their own social and political concerns? Far from limiting the research, this self-reflexive approach leads the researcher to take a broader view of his or her subject, research questions and perspectives. The challenge is to recognise that research does not produce 'objective' results in a 'neutral' way but is subject to multiple biases. However, being aware of one's own subjectivity does not mean that one can dispense with it altogether, only that one can strive for greater objectivity. The position of the researcher is not to be neutral, but to be intellectually honest, to take account of one's own biases in order, at best, to overcome them, or at least to accept them and expose them.

21In this approach, the choice of a research topic does not obviate the need to question the ideological underpinnings of its approach. While being aware of one's own biases is no guarantee of objectivity, neither is choosing an apparently 'gendered' topic a guarantee of a reflective approach. Working on 'the' woman or on the 'feminist' scope of the 'good family man' standard can be research choices that are ideologically oriented towards social projects far removed from those promoted by gender studies. Far be it from us to censor thought or create preconceptions: scientific controversy and debate are the lifeblood of the living sciences, and the wider the spread of gender studies, the more the academic community stands to gain. Nevertheless, the labels 'woman' and 'gender' are regularly used in research that does not seek to rethink power relations, but uses these supposedly 'progressive' terms to promote ideologies that would be more controversial if they were more openly presented.

22These reflections, which should be carried out at the beginning of research and throughout its course, are beneficial to the work of all disciplines and enable researchers to gain perspective and scientific caution.

23Pierre-Antoine Forcadet discusses the introduction of gender studies into the discipline in his article 'Histoire du droit et "théorie du gender". Les approches critiques du genre', in which he takes the opportunity to take stock of the discipline's reluctance to embrace gender.

New research methods thanks to gender studies concepts

24These reflections on the relationship between the researcher and his or her subject also raise the question of the methods used. Since axiological neutrality is impossible, it is methodological rigor that makes it possible to create the most objective conditions possible, which are essential for scientific discourse and argumentation. Here, too, methodological issues are rarely discussed.

25Legal methodology is the set of approaches, principles and techniques used to study and analyse the law. It varies according to the theoretical approach to law adopted. Traditionally, it is based on legal exegesis, i.e. the study of legal texts (laws, regulations, etc.) to understand their literal meaning, to interpret their objectives and to systematise them - to identify their internal logic - in order to integrate them into a coherent framework. In a normativist approach, it also means examining the compatibility between norms according to their place in the hierarchy of sources of law (constitution, statutes, regulations). The legal method is therefore primarily based on the interpretation of sources, which may be literal (analysing the words and their meaning in the text), teleological (considering the objective or purpose of the rule) or systemic (situating the rule in the legal system as a whole to determine its overall coherence).

26In addition, certain branches of law have their own peculiarities. Comparative law studies the legal systems of different countries to understand their differences and similarities or to propose reforms. For their part, theorists close to the jusnaturalist movement question the values and principles underlying legal norms. Critical approaches include social analysis, considering the inequalities or power relations that the law may reinforce or weaken. Finally, the economic or sociological analysis of law assesses the impact of legal rules on society and the economy. Above all, factualist approaches move away from legal texts and analyse the law in practice, i.e. the way in which it is implemented. More marginally, the legal method draws on other disciplines (philosophy, sociology, history, anthropology, economics, etc.) to flesh out legal analysis and understand the law in its context. In short, the legal method is based on a combination of normative analysis, textual interpretation, critical study and interdisciplinary approaches to the rigorous understanding and application of the law. It can be descriptive (observing and explaining the law as it is) and/or normative (formulating recommendations or criticisms).

27Legal history also uses these different methods. The exegetical method is central because the study of primary sources - laws, customs, archives, court decisions or treaties - is a key stage in gaining access to the intentions and practices of past jurists; indeed, it is sometimes the only way to understand them. For this reason, particular attention is paid to the commentaries and annotations of the lawyers of the time, which provide an insight into the way in which the rules were interpreted and applied. This hermeneutic method aims to decipher not only the explicit meaning of texts, but also their implicit meanings.

  • 25 Jean-Louis Halpérin, « L'histoire du droit constituée en discipline : consécration ou repli identit (...)

28The history of law also often uses comparative law to put the legal systems of different regions or periods into perspective to identify the interrelationships between legal traditions, such as the central role of Roman law in the development of European systems. By analysing legal and judicial practices, it is possible to understand how the law was applied, while also revealing the interactions between the law and social realities. To better understand the internal logic of legal systems, legal historians seek to organise and classify legal concepts into coherent categories. This systematic method highlights the major legal concepts (property, sovereignty, contract, etc.) and their trajectories, while shedding light on the fundamental principles underlying the various legal traditions25.

  • 26 Jacques Krynen, Bernard d’Alteroche, L’Histoire du droit en France, Nouvelles tendances, nouveaux t (...)

29More recently, the critical approach to legal history has focused on deconstructing legal discourse to reveal the ideologies, prejudices and interests that underlie it. This method also challenges historiographical narratives by analysing the ways in which legal history has been written and transmitted. The aim is to uncover possible biases and offer a more nuanced reading of legal phenomena. These critical approaches also emphasise that legal history cannot be understood without a contextual approach. Researchers analyse the links between law and major historical events, such as revolutions, wars or economic transformations. This approach also makes it possible to examine cultural representations of law, for example in art or literature, to understand how it was perceived and used at different times26.

30These latter, less traditional methods fully incorporate the anthropology and sociology of law into their analyses. Sociology examines the role of law in structuring social relations, while legal anthropology considers legal practices as cultural, social and symbolic phenomena. Linguistics helps to unravel the evolution of legal terms and concepts, while historical economics sheds light on the links between economic transformations and changes in the law.

31Caroline Laske and Elena Mascarenhas demonstrate the contribution of interdisciplinarity to the gendered analysis of law, one through a cross-approach between legal history and linguistics, the other through a cross-approach between law and philosophy of language. In her paper 'Decoding linguistic expression and textual representation in legal sources', Caroline Laske uses the notion of textual representation as a research tool to analyse women's legal capacity in three texts from the late 13th century. Elena Mascarenhas shows that changes in the legal norms of marriage between 1960 and 2013 are reigniting reflection on the links between legal language and everyday language. Focusing on 'same-sex marriage', she uses tools from law, linguistics and philosophy to show how ordinary language can transform law.

  • 27 Florence Renucci, « Le rôle des “anonymes” dans la réception et la production du droit. L’exemple d (...)

32Legal history has benefited from a movement of deconstruction that has led to a renewed analysis of the role of actors in making and challenging law, based on the study of spatial circulations and relations to other forms of knowledge. It is based on the use of prosopography and/or individual biographies27. This approach sheds light on the networks, training and ideas that have helped to shape legal systems.

33As an interdisciplinary discipline, gender studies examine the social construction of gender roles and power relations between the sexes. It offers a critical perspective that is particularly useful for analysing law and its history, revealing dimensions that are often invisible to legal scholars. These methods enrich legal and historical disciplines by challenging the apparent neutrality of the law, shedding light on the power relations it conveys, and highlighting forgotten experiences. In addition, certain concepts from gender studies, such as performativity/agentivity? Agentivity refers to the ability of an individual or group to act autonomously and intentionally and to influence their environment or the events that surround them. It implies the ability to make decisions, choices and control one's life despite social, cultural or institutional constraints. Researchers use this concept to analyse the relationship between social structures (rules, norms, institutions) and the individuals or groups who are subject to, circumvent or transform them. In the context of gender studies, agentivity is often mobilised to explore how people, especially those from marginalised groups, resist or reconfigure oppressive norms by acting within frameworks that seem a priori limiting.

34Ophélie Colomb's article 'Une approche juridique et féministe de la maternité : étude au prisme du genre de De la condition légale de la mère (1890) par Sarmiza Bilcescu' (A legal and feminist approach to motherhood: a gender study of Sarmiza Bilcescu's De la condition légale de la mère (1890)) sheds light on the contribution of Samirza Bilcescu, France's first female doctor of law. It goes beyond the idea of an isolated career to place her work in a broader historical dynamic, revealing a strategy of adaptation to the social and legal constraints of the jurist's time.

35One of the main contributions of gender studies is to challenge the idea that law is neutral or universal. Analyses show that legal texts are often imbued with gendered norms and assumptions that reproduce gender inequalities. For example, laws relating to work, family or property are often based on historical and social constructions of masculinity and femininity. By examining differentiated discourses, gender studies methods reveal the biases implicit in the production of law.

36In 'Genre et discours pénal: la bigamie dans la doctrine juridique européenne de l’époque moderne (XVI- XVIIIe siècle)', Tanguy Le Marc'Hadour traces the evolution of doctrinal discourse between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, analysing the ways in which jurists perceived bigamy and its gendered implications. The principle of monogamy, the foundation of Christian identity, led to gendered classifications of crime and criminal responsibility. However, under the influence of practice, doctrine tends to unify these crimes while maintaining implicit differences, particularly in the assessment of the responsibility of men and women.

37In 'De maîtresse à domestique. La circonstance aggravante de 'vol dans une auberge' au prisme du genre (1799-1815)', which examines a formal piece of legislation and its parliamentary debates, I [Prune Decoux] decipher the aggravating circumstance of 'theft in an inn' in the revolutionary period (1799-1815) from a gender perspective. The combination of historical analysis and gender reveals how legal semantics influenced the judges' representations and led them to make decisions steeped in stereotypes.

38Ambre Jarassier, in 'Le divorce de Napoléon par sénatus-consulte, les droits d'une épouse sacrifiés sur l'altel de la nécessité', shows that Napoleon's divorce, governed by a sénatus-consulte who violated both the civil code and the constitution, responded to gendered private and dynastic imperatives.

39The law is also an instrument of power, often used to regulate bodies and behaviour according to gendered norms. Gender studies explores how laws have historically been used to control women, for example through regulations on abortion, contraception or sexual morality. It also analyses how legal norms have contributed to the construction of dominant masculinities and the marginalisation of non-conforming gender identities.

40Amélie Imbert and Anne Jennequin, for example, have looked at the surveillance of women in prison in the 19th century, showing how gender differentiation between men and women was reinforced. Their article 'Surveiller les femmes incarcérées en maison centrale. La construction d'une différenciation de la surveillance pénitentiaire au XIXe siècle," examines the specific nature of the July Monarchy's prison policy, which introduced a strict segregation of the sexes and the supervision of female prisoners by nuns. Unlike men's prisons, women's prisons were based on religious principles deemed appropriate for women.

41Quentin Markarian in 'Eradicating homosexuality in prison. Le fondement hétéronormatif de l'encellulement individuel' analyses the introduction of solitary confinement by the law of 5 June 1875 and shows how this reform, justified by medical and moral discourses, aimed to eliminate homosexuality in prison within a heteronormative framework. Her gendered approach shows that this measure, presented as a disciplinary and hygienic advance, embodied a broader social control that targeted the bodies and behavior of prisoners, particularly those from the working classes.

42Gender analysis of legal texts highlights their role in the construction and reproduction of gender roles. Marriage laws, for example, have long enshrined male domination of the family structure, establishing the husband as the 'head of the family'. More subtly, and sometimes implicitly, other legal texts, even recent ones, continue to reflect gendered norms. Gender studies make it possible to analyse these texts to reveal their ambiguities and resistance to social change.

43Gender studies methods also encourage intersectional analysis, which takes into account the interactions between gender, class, race, sexuality and other factors in the construction of legal inequalities. For example, colonial family and labour laws show how legal regulation combined gender and racial norms to control colonised populations. This perspective enriches legal analysis by considering the complexity of power relations.

44Marc Thérage proposes an 'Outline of an intersectional approach to the law of 15 March 2004 on the wearing of religious symbols or clothing in state schools' to highlight its gendered and social implications. Although couched in neutral language, the law implicitly targets the wearing of the Islamic headscarf and reproduces systemic discrimination against racialised women from marginalised communities. This critique calls for a rethinking of the principles of universality and neutrality to combat systemic discrimination in public policy.

45Gender studies also allows us to explore the feminist and LGBTQIA+ movements that have sometimes used the law as a tool to make demands. The struggles for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, access to contraception and marriage for all show how social mobilisation has helped to change the law. By studying this resistance, researchers can better understand the limits and paradoxes of legal reform in the face of gender inequality.

46Finally, the contribution of feminist theories can enrich doctrinal production, as demonstrated by the article 'Ecofeminist discourses and environmental law: hunting the natural?' by Romain Gosse. The author presents the alternative perspectives offered by ecofeminism, which are still often neglected by environmental law, and invites us to rethink the relationship between man, law and nature from an ecofeminist perspective.

47Sanae Bouyayachen analyses 'The scattered influence of the feminist approach on the reform of international investment law', highlighting the need to adopt gender-sensitive norms and clauses to ensure greater equity and social justice. This is an opportunity to rethink the foundations of the system by articulating feminist principles, innovative practices and a renewed legal culture to respond to structural inequalities and promote economic and social justice.

48Gender opens so many new avenues and perspectives that we have decided to organise our research in two parts: firstly, law as discourse, which is the subject of this publication; and secondly, concrete law, law in practice. The articles collected here cover a variety of time periods and topics and show how legal norms and institutions have shaped and been shaped by gender relations.

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Notes

1 Michael Stolleis, « Écrire l’histoire du droit : reconstruction, narration, fiction », Conférence au Collège de France, 2008, [en ligne] ; Jacques Krynen et Bernard d’Alteroche (dir.), L’histoire du droit en France. Nouvelles tendances, nouveaux territoires, Paris, Classiques Garnier, Histoire du droit, 2014 ; Frédéric Audren, Anne-Sophie Chambost et Jean-Louis Halpérin, Histoires contemporaines du droit, Paris, Dalloz, 2020.

2 For a much broader review of literature on this topic, see Florence Renucci's article: « N’en fais pas toute une histoire ! Les études féministes, de genre et LGBTQIA+ dans les facultés de droit (des années 1970 aux années 2020) », Revue d'histoire des facultés de droit, à paraître.

3 See in particular Michèle Bordeaux, « La Grille du Temps : approche lexicale du temps des lois (Code civil, 1804) », Langages, 12ᵉ année, n° 53, 1979, p. 103-116 ; « Droit et femmes seules. Les pièges de la discrimination », in Arlette Farge et Christiane Klapisch-Zubern (dir.), Madame ou Mademoiselle. Itinéraire de la solitude féminine, Paris, Montalba, 1984, p. 19-50 ;  « Femmes hors d’État français 1940-1944 », in Rita Thalmann (dir.), Femmes et fascismes, Paris, Tierce, 1986, p. 135-155 ; « L’universalisme juridique et l’impasse de l’égalité », in Marie-France Brive (dir.), Les femmes et la Révolution française, Toulouse, Presses du Mirail, vol. 1, 1989, p. 427-440 ; Qualifié viol, Paris, Méridiens-Klincksieck, 1990 ; « Nouvelle et périmée : la loi du 19 mai 1874 sur le travail des enfants et des filles mineures employés dans l’industrie », in Jean-Pierre Le Crom (dir.), Deux siècles de droit du travail : l’histoire par les lois, Paris, l’Atelier, 1998, p. 45-60 (elle utilise dans cet article le terme « genre ») ; La Victoire de la famille dans la France défaite : Vichy 1940-1944, Paris, Flammarion, 2002.

4 Jacques Poumarède et Jean-Pierre Royer. Droit, Histoire & Sexualité, Distique, 1987.

5 Also worth mentioning is the work of Claude Alzon, who has a degree in the history of law but is now a professor of political science, and who is both a Marxist and a feminist, denouncing differential feminism. Claude Alzon, La Femme potiche et la femme bonniche : Pouvoir bourgeois et pouvoir mâle, Paris, La Découverte, 1977 ; Femme mythifiée, femme mystifiée, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1978.

6 https://regine.parisnanterre.fr/archives_site_2015/

7 So far, our research team has not identified any French works on gender in legal history prior to 2008. The only exceptions are Michèle Bordeaux's work - which is more in line with feminist studies than gender studies - and some of Jacques Poumarède's work, which could be related to feminist studies. We could also mention the work of Yan Thomas on sexual differentiation in antiquity: Yan Thomas, « La division des sexes en droit romain », in Georges Duby et Michelle Perrot (dir.), Histoire des femmes en Occident, tome 1, Pauline Schmitt-Pantel (dir.), L’antiquité, Paris, Plon, 1991, p. 103-168. The first works are therefore mine [Hélène Duffuler-Vialle], since my research in the history of law became part of the gender studies movement in 2008. Alain Wijfels, Arnaud Paturet and Florence Renucci also worked on gender before the ANR project was launched in 2021.

8 The first conference to be organised in France on the history of law from the perspective of gender studies is the one whose proceedings are the subject of this publication, namely the international conference 'Discourses juridiques, genre et histoire', to be held in Douai from 6 to 8 December. There will also be a study day on 'Women, gender and law in the Middle Ages. Statut, capacité et agentivité' at the University of Orléans on 16 December 2021. Although the term 'genres' in the plural is questionable for specialists, the subtitle indicates that the theme of the day will be gender studies. There will also be an international conference on the same topic at the same university in 2024.

9 The proceedings of the conference on 7 May 2015 have been published : Joël Hautebert, Le droit à l’épreuve du genre : actes du colloque du 7 mai 2015, Limoges, PULIM, 2016.

10 https://hljpgenre.hypotheses.org/

11 « Genre, histoire et droit », Clio@Themis, n° 25, 2023, [En ligne], mis en ligne le 23 octobre 2023, URL : https://journals.openedition.org/cliothemis/3600 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/

12 https://hdgenre.sciencesconf.org/

13 Prune Decoux et Hélène Duffuler-Vialle (dir.), Sous l’Universel, le Genre, Le discours juridique genré, Paris, Classiques Garnier, à paraître.

14 https://hljpgenre.hypotheses.org/3484

15 https://chad.hypotheses.org/2673 . We wrote an article entitled : « Déceler le genre dans les textes juridiques. Outils méthodologiques ».

16 Intersections : https://revue-intersections.parisnanterre.fr/index.php/accueil/about/editorialTeam

17 Joan Wallach Scott, « Genre : une catégorie utile d’analyse historique », Les cahiers du GRIF, n° 37-38, 1988, p. 125-153 ; « Le genre : une catégorie d'analyse toujours utile ? », Diogène, n° 225 (1), p. 5-14.

18 The scientific committee for the publication of the conference proceedings included some of the members of the ANR HLJPGenre team: Véronique Blanchard, Prune Decoux, Hélène Duffuler-Vialle, Marie Houllemare, Amélie Imbert, Anne Jennequin, Arnaud Paturet, Florence Renucci, Régis Révenin and Anne Ulrich-Girollet. In addition, the dossiers were reviewed anonymously by external reviewers.

19 Axiological neutrality is an epistemological position that has been exalted, particularly by formalist positivism within legal doctrine, based on a truncated and erroneous reading of Bernard Weber : Louis Pinto « “Neutralité axiologique”, science et engagement. Une lettre de Pierre Bourdieu », Savoir/Agir, n° 16 (2), 2011, p. 109-113.

20 Julia Morel et Valérie Paquet, « Sur l’idéal de neutralité en recherche. Bachelard, Busino et Olivier de Sardan mis en dialogue », in Laurence Brière, Mélissa Lieutenant-Gosselin et Florence Piron (dir.), Et si la recherche scientifique ne pouvait pas être neutre ? Québec, Éditions science et bien commun, 2019, p. 55-66.

21 For a good summary of feminist epistemologies, see Flores Espínola, « Subjectivité et connaissance : réflexions sur les épistémologies du “point de vue” », Cahiers du Genre, n° 53 (2), 2012, p. 99-120. https://doi.org/10.3917/cdge.053.0099

22 This publication should be read in link with Sabrina Michel's article on menstruation at the end of the Ancien Régime in the Clio@Themis review ‘Gender, history and law’ : Sabrina Michel, « Les menstrues de Charlotte Courtecuisse. Genre et justice au XVIIIe siècle », Clio@Themis [En ligne], 25 | 2023, http://journals.openedition.org/cliothemis/3963

23 Donna Haraway, “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective”, Feminist Studies, vol. 14, n° 3, 1988, p. 575-599.

24 Flores Espínola, op. cit.

25 Jean-Louis Halpérin, « L'histoire du droit constituée en discipline : consécration ou repli identitaire ? », Revue d'Histoire des Sciences Humaines, n° 4 (1), 2001, p. 9-32. https://doi.org/10.3917/rhsh.004.0009

26 Jacques Krynen, Bernard d’Alteroche, L’Histoire du droit en France, Nouvelles tendances, nouveaux territoires, Paris, Classiques Garnier.

27 Florence Renucci, « Le rôle des “anonymes” dans la réception et la production du droit. L’exemple de l’inspection du travail Outre-mer (1948-1952) », in Anne-Sophie Chambost (dir.), La réception du droit du travail par les milieux professionnels et intellectuels (XIXe-XXe s.), Paris, Lextenso, 2017, p. 127-146.

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Prune Decoux et Hélène Duffuler-Vialle, « The Study of Law And Its Historiography From A Gender Perspective »Criminocorpus [En ligne], 27 | 2025, mis en ligne le 27 mai 2025, consulté le 21 juin 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/criminocorpus/17591 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/14074

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Prune Decoux

Prune Decoux est docteure en histoire du droit, qualifiée aux fonctions de maîtresse de conférences (2020). Elle est actuellement chercheuse post-doctorante au sein de l’ANR HLJPGenre (CDEP, Université d’Artois) et membre associée de l’IRM (Université de Bordeaux). Ses travaux mêlent pensée juridique, étude de genre, analyse de discours et Humanités numériques.

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Hélène Duffuler-Vialle

Hélène Duffuler-Vialle est maîtresse de conférences en histoire du droit à l’Université d’Artois. Elle est membre du CDEP (EA 2471) et membre associée du CHJ (UMR 8025), ainsi que du comité scientifique des revues Criminocorpus, Intersections et du portail scientifique Enfants en Justice. Elle coordonne avec Prune Decoux l’ANR HLJPGenre.

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