Immersing oneself in gender equality law requires unlearning many of the notions, concepts, and conceptualizations ingrained in lawyers throughout their studies and careers. Feminist thinkers have experimented with the power of unlearning fundamental texts in political philosophy, from Hobbes to Rousseau, to discover biases in the concept of political subjecthood.1 These feminist scholars’ seminal works have underscored the necessity of unlearning in order to replace the univalent definition of the ideal political subject—a male, heterosexual, and wealthy individual—with a multifaceted understanding of political subjecthood. This entails recognizing diversity as the normative expression of human existence. The unlearning process is compelled by inherited structures of thought that have historically shaped legal discourse on equality, identity, and gender.
In Frontiers of Gender Equality, the editor and the contributors undertake the unlearning exercise to tackle the broad concepts of equality and non-discrimination. The book encourages scholars to approach gender equality as a formula embracing multiple meanings which, in turn, reflect the variety of experiences of human life. By employing the term “frontiers,” the editor aims to encapsulate both the concept of a path and a direction. Gender equality has traversed various paths, not always visible to those who initiated the journey. Yet, scholars must still chart the course for the future.