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Jurisprudence Commons

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Women

2002

Selected Works

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Gender, Genes, And Choice: A Comparative Look At Feminism, Evolution, And Economics, Katharine K. Baker Jan 2002

Gender, Genes, And Choice: A Comparative Look At Feminism, Evolution, And Economics, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

This Article compares the methodological similarities between evolutionary biology and conventional law and economics. It shows how these methodologies diverge, in critical and parallel ways, from what has come to be known as feminist method. In doing so, the Article suggests that feminists in the legal academy should be suspicious of the parsimonious models upon which both conventional evolutionary biologists and conventional law and economics scholars rely. Biological and economic models employ analogous concepts of maximization (including theories of autonomy, choice, and measurement) and stable equilibria (usually produced by stable preferences) to make predictions and proscriptions for law. The simplicity …