Gender and Culture

Acknowledgements vi

1 Introduction 1

2 Multiculturalism, universalism and the claims of democracy 16

3 Dilemmas of gender and culture: the judge, the democrat and the political activist 38

4 What is ‘culture’? 57

5 What’s wrong with essentialism? 69

6 When culture means gender: issues of cultural defence in the English courts 83

7 Free to decide for oneself 107

8 Consent, autonomy and coercion: forced marriage, public policy and the courts 124

Notes 142

Bibliography 157

Index 165