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Katharine K. Baker

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Law and Economics

Bargaining Or Biology? The History And Future Of Paternity Law And Parental Status, Katharine K. Baker Feb 2004

Bargaining Or Biology? The History And Future Of Paternity Law And Parental Status, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

In practice, paternity rulings are remarkably unimportant. With the exception of state welfare authorities pursuing mostly impoverished biological fathers, few paternity actions are brought, few mothers want to bring them and (even with state-sponsored pursuit) very few dollars get transferred to children as a result of them. In theory, however, paternity judgments are very and perniciously important because they keep alive the biological fatherhood ideal, an ideal that has never been reflected in law or fact and that is inconsistent with the emerging law of parental rights and responsibilities. This article challenges the biological fatherhood ideal and suggests that contract, …

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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 …

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Alternative Caretaking And Family Autonomy: Some Thoughts In Response To Dorothy Roberts, Katharine K. Baker Jan 2001

Alternative Caretaking And Family Autonomy: Some Thoughts In Response To Dorothy Roberts, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

Dorothy Roberts's analysis of the ways in which current kinship foster care arrangements highlight the need for more state support of caregiving and perversely sever familial bonds in the African American community raises important issues for those concerned about caregiving and the legal treatment of families.' In this short response, I will address two of those issues. First, I argue that it is important to understand how state support for caregiving can reify primary caretaker norms and undermine alternative care arrangements that have proven so valuable in communities of color. Second, I suggest that attempts to strengthen family ties must …

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Biology For Feminists, Katharine K. Baker Feb 2000

Biology For Feminists, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

No abstract provided.

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Taking Care Of Our Daughters, A Book Review Of Martha Fineman, The Neutered Mother, The Sexual Family And Other Twentieth Century Tragedies, Katharine K. Baker Jan 1997

Taking Care Of Our Daughters, A Book Review Of Martha Fineman, The Neutered Mother, The Sexual Family And Other Twentieth Century Tragedies, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

No abstract provided.

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Consorting With The Forests: Rethinking Our Relationships To Natural Resources And How We Should Value Their Loss, Katharine K. Baker Jan 1995

Consorting With The Forests: Rethinking Our Relationships To Natural Resources And How We Should Value Their Loss, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

Section I of this article defines the contours of the natural resource damage cause of action by explaining who sues, on whose behalf they sue, and for what they sue. It is in this section that I take issue with the environmentalists' claim that trees should have standing and the economists' claim that the right at stake is a property right. Section II explores the nature of the human connection to the environment, how that connection is affected by natural resource damage loss, and why it is legitimate to compensate for the loss of that connection. Analysis of the subjective …

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