Frances Elisabeth Olsen

Professor of Law

  • B.A. Goddard College, 1968
  • J.D. University of Colorado, 1971
  • S.J.D. Harvard, 1984
  • UCLA Faculty Since 1984

Frances Olsen teaches Feminist Legal Theory, Dissidence & Law, Family Law, and Torts. Her areas of research interest include legal theory, social change and feminism.

During law school, Professor Olsen did legal aid work for migrant farm workers in Colorado and was the notes & comments editor of the University of Colorado Law Review. She then clerked for the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Colorado. She represented Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1973. She established the first feminist public interest law firm in Denver, and, from 1981 to 1983 while an S.J.D. student, founded a legal academic women's group, the Fem-Crits, which spread across the country. She has taught courses in feminist legal theory at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Berlin, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Jerusalem, and at other universities in the U.S., France, Italy, Japan, and Israel. She was a fellow at Oxford University in 1987 and holds a Life Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge University. She has lectured throughout the world.

Professor Olsen has edited Feminist Legal Theory I: Foundations and Outlooks and II: Positioning Feminist Theory Within the Law (1995). In addition to writing some 100 articles published world-wide, including in the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal, she co-authored Cases and Materials on Family Law: Legal Concepts and Changing Human Relationships (with Weyrauch and Katz, 1994).

Bibliography

  • Books
    • The Sex of Law: How the Public/Private Dichotomy Reinforces Gender Inequality. Univ. of Tokyo Press (2009). (in Japanese)
    • Translation Issues in Language and Law (edited by Frances Olsen, Dieter Stein and Alexander Lorz). Palgrave/Macmillan (2009).
    • Law and Language: Theory and Society (edited by Frances Olsen, Dieter Stein and Alexander Lorz). Düsseldorf University Press (2008).
    • Feminist Legal Theory I: Foundations and Outlooks (edited by Frances Olsen). Darmouth Publishing/NYU Press (1995).
    • Feminist Legal Theory II: Positioning Feminist Theory Within the Law (edited by Frances Olsen). Dartmouth Publishing/NYU Press (1995).
    • Cases and Materials on Family Law: Legal Concepts and Changing Human Relationships (with Walter O. Weyrauch and Sanford N. Katz). West Publishing (1994).
  • Articles And Chapters
    • Pragmatic Interpretation by Judges: Constrained Performatives and the Deployment of Gender Bias, in The Pragmatic Turn in Law: Inference and Interpretation in Legal Discourse, (edited by Janet Giltrow and Dieter Stein, De Gruyter Mouton, 2017).
    • The Myth of State Intervention in the Family, in Law and Families, (edited by Helen Rhoades, Routledge, 2017).
    • Windsor to Perry hanketsu iko no kon-in (On Marriage after Windsor and Perry), 2015 Amerika Ho (2015). (in Japanese)
    • Liberal Rights and Critical Legal Theory, 12 German Law Journal 234-46 (2011).
    • Chapter 2, in Gender Equality and Multicultural Conviviality in the Age of Globalization, 35-48 (Univ. of Tokyo Press, 2010). (in Japanese)
    • El sexo del derecho, in El genero en el rerecho: Ensayos criticos, 137-156 (Ecuador, 2009). (in Spanish)
    • Critical Evaluation of Human Rights Strategies: A Case Study of CEDAW and Women's NGOs in Ethiopia, in III Proceeding of the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, (edited by Svein Ege et al, Trondheim, Norway, 2009).
    • The Shifting Discourse of Domestic Violence, in Law and Language: Theory and Society, (edited by Frances Olsen, Dieter Stein and Alexander Lorz, Dusseldorf Univ. Press, 2008).
    • Ethiopia’s Federal Constitution and Traditional Views of Women: The Example of Family Law, Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg, Germany (2006).
    • Legitimidad, pobreza y resistencia (Legitimacy, Poverty and Resistance), in El derecho a resistir el derecho (Civil Resistance), 121-148 (edited by Roberto Gargarella, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005). (in Spanish)
    • Civil Disobedience for Social Change: Constitutional Law as Facilitative or Distracting, 14 Griffith Law Review 213-226 (2005).
    • Civil Disobedience on Vieques: How Nonviolence Defeated the U.S. Military, 16 Florida Journal of International Law 547-59 (2004).
    • Legal Literacy, in Development and Gender, 280-82 (edited by Yumiko Tanaka, Japan International Cooperation Publishing Co. Ltd., 2002).
    • Politics Without a Movement, 22 Cardozo Law Review 1105-12 (2001).
    • The Role of Student-run Journals in Opening North American Law, 39 Alberta Law Review 678-83 (2001).
    • Les Critères de L’égalité Issus des Lumières, et les Débats sur le Multiculturalisme États-Unis, in La Femme et les Sociétés Pluriculturelles de L’océan Indien, 283-91 (edited by Gillette Staudacher-Valliamee, Sedes, 2000).
    • El Sexo del Derecho, in Critical Legal Theory, (edited by Christian Courtis, Univ. of Buenos Ares Press, 2000).
    • Privacy, in Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 717-18 (Routledge, 2000).
    • Introductory Remarks, Textbook Sexism: Discrimination Against Women in Academia, 10 UCLA Women's Law Journal 253-39 (1999).
    • Engendering the Body of Law: The Contribution of Transgender Jurisprudence to Feminist Legal Theory, 4 Contemporary Issues in Law 280-97 (1999/2000).
    • Nationalismus in den USA: ein interkurturtureller Vergleich seiner Auswirkunden auf die Frauenbewegung, in Bruche, Auf-Bruche – Um Bruche – Aus Bruche in Ost and West, Nation – Kultur – Geschlechterverhaeltnisse, 169-76 (edited by Hannelor Scholz, Penta Angelove & Nidulina Burneva, Trafo, 1999). [Nationalism in the United States: A Cross Cultural Comparison of its Effects on Women’s Movements] Published in German.
    • What is Feminist Legal Theory and Why Should Gender Studies Care About It?, IGS Bulletin 19-34 (1998).
    • The Sex of Law, in The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique, 691-707 3rd ed. (edited by David Kairys, Basic Books, 1998). Revised and expanded from 2nd edition.
    • Sekse en Kleur, Gender en Ras: De Relatie Tussen Femininistische Rechtswetenschap en Transgender Jurisprudence, Nemesis 175-80 (1998). In Dutch.
    • Hyumanitsu Ango Umenzuratsu, in Koen Kiroku, 125-64 (Kansai University, 1998). [Human Rights and Women's Rights]. Published in Japanese and English.
    • Some Jurisprudential Foundations of Critical Legal Studies and Feminist Legal Theory, in Legal Theory at the End of the Millennium, 533-61 (edited by M.D.A. Freeman, Oxford Univ. Press, 1998). Volume 51 in the series, Current Legal Problems.
    • Feministo Hou Riron, Amerika-Ho 1-19 (1998). Published in Japanese.
    • Asset Distribution After Unmarried Cohabitation: A United States Perspective, in Dividing the Assets on Family Breakdown, 89-103 (edited by Rebecca Baily-Harris, Jordan Publishing, 1998).
    • Public and Private, in VII Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, 690-93 (edited by Edward Craig and David Miller, Routledge, 1997).
    • The Drama of Comparative Law, 1997 Utah Law Review 275-80 (1997).
    • Amerika-ho no henyo niokeru feminizumu hogaku-no yakuwari: Nihon-no posutomodanizuteki rikai ni mukete, 1119 Juristo 113-20 (Sept. 15, 1997). Part II. In Japanese.
    • Amerika-ho no henyo niokeru feminizumu hogaku-no yakuwari: Nihon-no posutomodanizuteki rikai ni mukete, 1118 Juristo 78-84 (Sept. 1, 1997). Part I.  In Japanese.
    • Feminism in Central and Eastern Europe: Risks and Possibilities of American Engagement, 106 Yale Law Journal 2215-57 (1997).
    • The Sex of Power, in Law and Power: Critical and Socio-Legal Essays, (edited by Kaarlo Tuori et al., Deborah Charles Publications, 1997).
    • Affirmative Action: Necessary But Not Sufficient, 71 Chicago-Kent Law Review 937-45 (1996).
    • Dismantling Institutional Barriers, 6 UCLA Women's Law Journal 563-68 (1996).
    • Do (Only) Women Have Bodies?, in Thinking Through the Body of the Law, 209-27 (edited by Pheng Cheah, David Frazer, and Judith Grbich, Allen & Unwin, 1996).
    • Differenz und Gleichheit in Wirtschaft und Familie, in Differenz und Gleichheit in Theorie und Praxis des Rechts, 3-16 (Matefi, 1995).
    • Rundgespräch (with others), in Differenz und Gleichheit in Theorie und Praxis des Rechts, 47-55 (Matefi, 1995).
    • Vertiefung “Familie und Markt”: Frauenspezifische Schutznormen im Arbeitsrecht, Abschaffund des Familienrechts? (with Regina Wecher and Elisabeth Stärkle), in Differenz und Gleichheit in Theorie und Praxis des Rechts, 91-99 (Matefi, 1995).
    • Discussion (with others), in Changing Perspectives of the Family: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium of the Constitutional Law Resource Center, 55 (Drake University Law School, 1994).
    • Family Law and the Politics of Gender, in Changing Perspectives of the Family: Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium of the Constitutional Law Resource Center, 45-54 (edited by Stanley Ingber, Drake University Law School, 1994).
    • Interpretation and Feminism, 18 Tel Aviv University Law Review (1994). In Hebrew.
    • Nationalism and Feminism: A Conference on Women in Central and Eastern Europe, 5 UCLA Women's Law Journal 1-13 (1994).
    • Constitutional Law: Feminist Critiques of the Public/Private Distinction, 10 Constitutional Commentary 319-27 (1993).
    • Der Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über die Rechte des Kindes: Eine feministische Perspektive, 11 Streit 86-103 (1993).
    • Employment Discrimination in the New Europe: A Litigation Project for Women, in Feminist Theory and Legal Strategy, 131-44 (edited by Joanne Conaghan and Anne Bottomley, Blackwell, 1993). Reprinted in Special Issue, 30 Journal of Law & Society 131-144 (1993).
    • International Law: Feminist Critiques of the Public/Private Distinction, in Reconceiving Reality: Women and International Law, (edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer, American Society of International Law, 1993). Studies in Transnational Legal Policy No. 25.
    • Legal Responses to Gender Discrimination in Europe and the USA, in II-2 Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law, 199-268 (Kluwer, 1993).
    • Children’s Rights: Some Feminist Approaches to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in Children, Rights and the Law, 192-220 (edited by Philip Alston et al., Clarendon, 1992). Reprinted in 6 International Journal of Law and the Family 192-220 (1992).
    • Does Enough Work Make Women Free? Part-Time and Full-Time Work Strategies for Women in the United States and Germany, 53 The Indian Journal of Social Work 599-610 (1992).
    • Sex Bias in International Law: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 53 The Indian Journal of Social Work 491-516 (1992).
    • A Finger to the Devil: Abortion, Privacy and Equality, Dissent 377-82 (Summer, 1991).
    • In Memoriam: Mary Joe Frug, Harvard Women’s Law Journal i-vii (1991). Also published in CLS 7-11 (Nov. 1991). Reprinted in 26 New England Law Review 659-64 (1992).
    • The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: An American Perspective, in The UN Children’s Convention and Australia, 71-74 (edited by Philip Alston and Glen Brennen, Paragon, 1991). Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, ANU Centre for International and Public Law, and Australian Council of Social Services.
    • Das Geschlecht des Rechts, 3 Kritische Justiz 303-17 (1990).
    • Feminism and Critical Legal Theory: An American Perspective, 18 International Journal of the Sociology of Law 199-215 (1990). Reprinted in Feminist Legal Theory I: Foundations and Outlooks 473-89 (edited by Frances Olsen, NYU Press, 1995).
    • The Sex of Law, in The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique, 453-57 2nd ed. (edited by David Kairys, Pantheon, 1990).
    • Comments on David Krell’s “Lucinde’s Shame: Hegel, Sensuous Woman, and the Law", Cardozo Law Review 1687-93 (1989). Revised as "Hegel, Sexual Ethics, and the Oppression of Women," in Feminist Interpretation of Hegel 109-18 (edited by Patricia Mills, Pennsylvania State Univ. Press, 1996, in the series, Rereading the Canon: Feminist Interpretation of Hegel.)
    • Book Review, Feminist Theory in Grand Style, 89 Columbia Law Review 1147-78 (1989). Reviewing Feminism Unmodified, by Catharine MacKinnon.
    • The Impact of Computerization on the Legal System and on Legal Reasoning, in High-Technology and Law: A Critical Approach, 101-16 (edited by András Sajó and Ferenc B. Petrik, Institute of Political and Legal Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1989).
    • Liberal Rights and Critical Legal Theory: A Feminist Perspective, in Critical Legal Thought: An American-German Debate, 241-54 (edited by Christian Joerges and David M. Trubek, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989).
    • The Supreme Court, 1988 Term–Comment: Unraveling Compromise, 103 Harvard Law Review 105-35 (1989). Reprinted as "Unraveling Compromise," in Feminist Jurisprudence 335-53 (edited by Patricia Smith, Oxford Univ. Press, 1992).
    • Forældremyndighed og reproduktionsteknologi, 11 Retfærd 61-72 (1988).
    • Family Law, in 1 Encyclopedia of the American Judicial System, 306-20 (edited by Robert J. Janosik, Scribner, 1987).
    • De politieke dimensies van het familierecht, 2 Nemesis 144-54 (1986).
    • From False Paternalism to False Equality: Judicial Assaults on Feminist Community, Illinois 1869-1895, 85 Michigan Law Review 1518-41 (1986). Reprinted in Feminist Legal Theory II: Positioning Feminist Theory Within the Law 415-38 (edited by Frances Olsen, NYU Press, 1995); and in Women, the Law, and the Workplace: Feminists and the Supreme Court in the 1920s (edited by Sybil Lipschultz, Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2002).
    • The Myth of State Intervention in the Family, 18 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 835-64 (1985). Reprinted in Women and the Law (2nd ed., edited by Judith Greenberg, et al., Foundation Press, 1998); in Feminist Legal Theory II:  Positioning Feminist Theory Within the Law 185-214 (edited by Frances Olsen, Dartmouth Publishing; NYU Press, 1995); in Feminism 350-79 (edited by Susan Moller Okin and Jane Mansbridge, Edward Elgar Publishing, in the series Schools of Thought in Politics, 1994); excerpts in Family Matters 277-82 (edited by Martha Minow, New Press, 1993); and reprinted in Women and the Law 133-40 (edited by Mary Joe Frug, Foundation Press, 1992).
    • The Politics of Family Law, 2 Journal of Law and Inequality 1-19 (1984). Reprinted in Family Matters 336-43 (edited by Martha Minow, New Press, 1993); and in 1 Family Law 231-49 (edited by Harry D. Krause, NYU Press, 1992).
    • Socrates on Legal Obligation: Legitimation Theory and Civil Disobedience, 18 Georgia Law Review 929-66 (1984). Reprinted in Legal and Political Obligation: Classic and Contemporary Texts and Commentary 69-99 (edited by R. George Wright, Univ. Press of America, 1992).
    • Statutory Rape: A Feminist Critique of Rights Analysis, 63 Texas Law Review 387-432 (1984). Reprinted in Women and the Law (2nd ed., edited by Judith Greenberg, Foundation Press, 1998). Reprinted in Women and the Law 793-800 (edited by Mary Joe Frug, Foundation Press, 1992); and in Feminist Legal Theory: Readings in Law and Gender 305-17 (edited by Katharine T. Bartlett and Rosanne Kennedy, Westview, 1991).
    • The Family and the Market: A Study of Ideology and Legal Reform, 96 Harvard Law Review 1497-1578 (1983). Reprinted as The Family and the Market: A Study of Ideology and Legal Reform, Part I, in Feminist Legal Theory I: Foundations and Outlooks 107-38; Part III, in Feminist Legal Theory II: Positioning Feminist Theory Within the Law 509-527 (both edited by Frances Olsen, NYU Press, 1995); and in Feminist Jurisprudence 65-93 (edited by Patricia Smith, Oxford Univ. Press, 1992); Critical Legal Studies 256-72 (edited by Allan C. Hutchinson, Rowman & Littlefield, 1989); Critical Legal Studies: Articles, Notes and Book Reviews Selected from the Pages of the Harvard Law Review 503-84 (Harvard Law Review Association, 1986); and in American Legal Scholarship 1497-1578 (Germany: ERP, 1986).
  • Other
    • The Outsider: Catharine Mackinnon’s Position on Pornography Infuriates Even Potential Allies, but Her Pioneering Work on Sexual Harassment Changed the Course of the Law and the Rules of the Workplace, 31 American Lawyer 93 (1999).
    • Groene-Essay. Aangeklaadge: Amerika, 119 De Groene Amsterdammer 20-22 (1995).
    • Interview. Ausgangssperre Fur Amerikanische Frauen, 15 Der Tagesspiegel 441 (1995).
    • Sex, Geld, Gewalt und Sport: Eine Feministische Analyse Des O. J. Simpson Prozesses, 1 AK: Anylyse & Kritik-Zeitung für Linke Debatte und Praxis 1 15 (1995).
    • Wie wurde feministische Rechtswissenschaft in den USA zentral für das Recht?, 3 Plädoyer 23 (May, 1994). Switzerland, in German.
    • Notes to Amuse a Legal Worker - Series 1, No. 1: Reductionism, 1 Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 157-64 (1988). Originally published as Anonymous in Lizard: News of the AALS (1984).
    • Alone and Female, 3 Lizard: News of the AALS 9 (May 7, 1984). Published as Anonymous.
    • Notes from the Margin, 2 Lizard: News of the AALS 1, 6 (May 6, 1984). Published as Anonymous.
    • Letter and Answer on Law Teaching and Unpopular Politics, 1 Lizard: News of the AALS 3, 6 (May 5, 1984). Attributed to “A Nice Guy” and “Ann Slanders.”
    • Feminism and Critical Legal Studies, 1 Lizard: News of the AALS 3-4 (May 5, 1984). Published as Anonymous.