An Uncomfortable Conversation on Sociobiology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Feminist Legal Theory
December 1-2, 2006
Emory University School of Law
Atlanta, GeorgiaFollow this link for the call for papers.
This is the first of a planned series of workshops that will examine the implications of the increasing use of theories of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology to explain persistent inequalities between men and women. The primary aim of this initial workshop is to learn as much as possible about the diverse and confusing field often called “sociobiology” and the various ways in which it implicates diverse aspects of the feminist project.
Tentative issues include:
The relationship between evolutionary biology and economics, and between the emerging field of “Law and Evolution” and the established field of Law and Economics
A taxonomy of the field or fields – untangling the confusing profusion of labels and understanding the differences between sociobiology, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral biology and others
Evolutionary psychology as science versus evolutionary psychology as pop culture, and how to tell the difference
Methodologies used by evolutionary psychologists and evolutionary biologists – feminist critiques and feminist uses
Talking to or talking past – can sociobiologists and feminists have a conversation?
What are we fighting about? The surprising similarities of the worlds described by feminists and sociobiologists
“Law and evolution” – its various arguments, its politics, and its implications for legal feminism
Thank you to Ann Bartow for this!