Virtual Issue: Celebrating Women’s History Month

The mission of the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (OJLS) is to publish ‘articles that stand the test of time by illuminating law and its operation’. In the spirit of that aspiration, this is the first of a series of virtual issues in which Board members will be curating articles from previous issues of the Journal. In an era of impact factors and Altmetric scores, it can be very easy to focus on what is currently being published and overlook the rich intellectual resources that can be found in the past issues of a Journal such as the OJLS. The aim of these virtual issues is to counteract that tendency.

This first virtual issue is being published to coincide with Women’s History Month. In 1987 the United States Congress passing a joint resolution declaring March ‘Women’s History Month’ in recognition of the significant but ‘overlooked and undervalued’ role of women in American history. The importance of that month has grown since then and is also celebrated in other jurisdictions. Among other things, the month underscores the need for scholars to always ensure that the work that they do illuminates the diversity and complexity of the world.

Below we include examples of articles that are in-depth explorations of law in particular times and places. In making our choices we have interpreted ‘women’s history’ broadly to encompass both subject matter and scholarly approaches. Each of these articles powerfully illuminates the law. In doing so, they are wonderful examples of articles ‘that stand the test of time’. Enjoy!

Shreya Atrey, Anne Davies, Liz Fisher, Andreas Televantos