L-UNIVERSITÀ TA’ MALTA
Msida – Malta
FAKULTÀ GĦAT-TISĦIĦ TAS-SOĊJETÀ
UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
Msida - Malta
FACULTY FOR SOCIAL WELLBEING
DIPARTIMENT STUDJI DWAR IL-ĠENERI
DEPARTMENT OF GENDER STUDIES
The Department of Gender Studies
will be hosting a public lecture entitled
Toward a Feminist Approach to Rule of Law:
Promoting Peace and Integrating Society
Speaker: Prof. Susan Hirsch – George Mason University, USA
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1 (Erin Serracino Inglott Hall)
Date: Thursday 26 May 2016
Time: 17:30 till 19:30
In its ideal form, rule of law describes a situation whereby laws are clear, fair, and applied equally to all.
Rule of law is at the heart of initiatives promoting good governance and on the lips of activists seeking
rights and citizens demanding political accountability. Strict adherence to rule of law, however, can be
state-centric, politically conservative, and oblivious to gender and other forms of difference and power.
Drawing on Hirsch’s ethnographic research in east Africa, the United States, and Malta, this talk offers a
critique of rule of law. Hirsch reveals the tension between rule of law approaches and feminist values by
analyzing rule of law initiatives focused on 1) the aftermath of violent conflict and 2) the legal integration
of minorities. The talk concludes by sketching the contours of a feminist approach to rule of law designed
to promote peace and social integration.
The general public is cordially invited to attend this public lecture. For enquiries, please feel free to
contact Ms Isabelle Camilleri & Ms Samantha Grima by phone on 2340 3956 & 2340 3808 or by
sending an email to isabelle.camilleri@um.edu.mt and samantha.grima@um.edu.mt
Susan F. Hirsch is a Professor in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason
University in the United States, where she specializes in legal anthropology. Based on ethnographic
research conducted in Kenya, Tanzania, and the United States, her publications focus on law as a
response to conflicts that range from terrorism and atrocity to social issues (e.g., environment or
domestic violence) to interpersonal relationships. Among her several books is In the Moment of
Greatest Calamity: Terrorism, Grief, and a Victim’s Quest for Justice, which is based on her
experiences surviving a terror attack. Hirsch’s latest research examines family law, religious diversity,
and rule of law in Malta and several other nations. In 2015-16 she was a Fulbright Lecturer in the Law
Faculty of the University of Malta, where she is also affiliated with the Mediterranean Academy of
Diplomatic Studies and the Department of Anthropological Sciences.
POSTAL ADDRESS: MSIDA MSD2080, MALTA
TEL: (+356) 21333903-6 DDI: (+356) 2340 3808 WEBSITE: http://www.um.edu.mt