Women Judges: Gendering Judging, Justifying Diversity

Abstract

The under‐representation of women in judicial office has led to calls for greater female representation based on an argument that women offer a different voice from that of men. This argument has largely foundered, and a more recent rationale rests on the need for diversity in the judiciary. However, the disadvantage experienced by women applicants to judicial office is rooted in deeply entrenched structural discrimination and exclusion, imbricated in the constitution of the judge, judging, and judicial authority as male, masculine, white, heterosexual, able‐bodied, and class‐privileged. Arguments for wider representation in judicial office need to address more effectively how the judge, judging, and judicial authority are constituted. A survey of women holders of judicial office in Northern Ireland confirms this exclusion. While few respondents in the survey support the concept of a different voice, many identify distinctive approaches which can potentially enrich notions of judging and judicial authority.

Social Immobility, Ethno-politics, and Sectarian Violence: Obstacles to Post-conflict Reconstruction in Northern Ireland

“…Currently, 95 percent of children attend religiously segregated schools (Smithey 2011:15), and twothirds of residents live in areas that are 90 percent Catholic or Protestant (Harland 2011:416). Nolan (2014:11) Ireland (Feenan 2008). Moreover, while the power-sharing framework of governance established since the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement brought an impressive cessation of violence in Northern Ireland, it also re-centered politics around issues of ethno-national identity by reifying and legitimizing the mutually exclusive constitutional agendas of Unionism and Republicanism.…”

Comparación de mujeres y hombres de experiencias en la judicatura australiana*

“…Hay aproximadamente 130 jueces en las Cortes del Commonwealth, 350 jueces de estados y territorios, y 450 magistrados, totalizando 900 funcionarios judiciales, organizados dentro de 25 cortes diferentes. basa en varios y diferentes motivos interrelacionados (Bazelon, 2009;Cardinal, 2013;Cooney, 1993;Davis y Williams, 2003a;Evans y Williams, 2008;Gastron, 1991;Feenan, 2008;Kohen, 2008;Russell, 2010).…”

Moving on up: The political incorporation of Hispanic women into the federal judiciary of Texas

“…The "old boy" network that provides useful information and strengthens the cultural habitus of the male judge has often disadvantaged women (Echaveste, 2002;Feenan, 2008). Hawksworth's race-gendering provides a useful tool for examining the way in which Hispanic women are incorporated into the federal judiciary.…”