Methodologies for Change and Tensions of Tradition and Imagination: Producing Knowledge of Gender Possibility on The Outskirts of Legal Strategy

Min Leong, Rachel

Abstract

Gendered subjects are rendered legible in our political landscape when the law addresses them, and thus law plays an indispensable role in processes of change. Methodologies in gender work to theorise the nuance of lived experiences and individualism, but it is challenging for them to independently bring about change. Legal strategies, on the other hand, work to create and define the contours which shape global societies, but fail to integrate nuance into its analysis. This article argues legal strategies alone prove insufficient in bringing about meaningful change, especially as they pertain to the issues of gender and sexuality. Consequently, this article will thus reflect on the “situatedness” of law as a power tool, analysing the effects of its construction, and who gets to construct it. Moreover, it will analyse the limits of the law as a mechanism of enacting true change, illustrating how gender methodologies may imagine possibility beyond legal strategy.

Citation

Min Leong, R. (2025). Methodologies for Change and Tensions of Tradition and Imagination: Producing Knowledge of Gender Possibility on The Outskirts of Legal Strategy. SOAS journal of postgraduate research, 16, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00043305

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Journal: SOAS journal of postgraduate research
• Print ISSN: 2631-3812
• Electronic ISSN: 2517-6226
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Pages: 1-17
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00043305
• Keywords: Surveillance, Activism, AI Technology, Military
• Publisher URL: https://www.soas.ac.uk/research/soas-journals-and-books/soas-journal-postgraduate-research