Catherine A. MacKinnon

Catherine A. MacKinnon is an American lawyer, legal scholar, and prominent radical feminist activist. She is a leading figure in the development of feminist legal theory, profoundly influencing jurisprudence on sexual harassment, pornography, and sex equality. Her pioneering legal work, including co-authoring the first legal claim for sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination, has shaped laws in the United States and internationally. MacKinnon has held professorships at several prestigious institutions, including the University of Michigan Law School and the University of Chicago Law School.

Early life and education

Born in Minneapolis, she attended Smith College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. She then pursued graduate studies at Yale University, where she earned both a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1977 and a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1987. Her doctoral dissertation formed the basis of her influential book, Toward a Feminist Theory of the State. During her time at Yale, she was deeply influenced by the emerging women's liberation movement and began developing her critical analysis of law and patriarchy.

Legal and academic career

After completing her Juris Doctor, she served as a law clerk for Judge Jon O. Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She began her academic career as a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School before joining the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School, where she became the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law. She has also held visiting professorships at institutions such as the University of Chicago Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and the University of Basel in Switzerland. In addition to her academic work, she has represented plaintiffs in landmark sex discrimination cases and served as a special gender consultant to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Feminist legal theory

Her theoretical work is foundational to feminist jurisprudence and critical legal studies. She argues that the legal system is fundamentally structured by male supremacy, which she terms the "dominance approach" to sex equality, in contrast to the formal "difference approach." She co-authored the legal brief that persuaded the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in the case Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, to recognize sexual harassment as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a position later affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Her analysis of pornography as a form of sex discrimination and a violation of civil rights, developed with writer Andrea Dworkin, led to the creation of controversial anti-pornography civil rights ordinances in cities like Indianapolis.

Influence and activism

Her activism and scholarship have had a global impact on laws addressing violence against women. She served as counsel for the women's groups in the precedent-setting Canadian case R. v. Butler, which adopted her approach to obscenity law. She has advised on the drafting of constitutions for several nations, including South Africa and Canada, and her theories informed the recognition of rape and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity and acts of genocide by international tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She has lectured worldwide and her work is a central subject of debate within feminism, legal academia, and First Amendment discourse.

Selected works and awards

Her major publications include Sexual Harassment of Working Women (1979), Feminism Unmodified (1987), Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989), Only Words (1993), and Are Women Human? (2006). She has received numerous honors, including the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and a Professor of the Year award from the American Academy of Political and Social Science. In 2021, she was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Category:American feminists Category:American legal scholars Category:Yale University alumni Category:1946 births Category:Living people