Journal of Law and Society. 2026;1–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.70054
Abstract
Conventional top-down approaches to legal reform tend to overlook the contributions of social movements in legal change, often resulting in a gender-blind analysis. In response, I advance ‘becoming legal’ as an analytical framework to rethink legal change in terms of a bottom-up process encompassing informal proceedings as well as formal status changes. Enabling a gender analysis of legal change, becoming legal gives significance to often overlooked sites, agents, and practices. Rather than focusing on the widely studied experiences of Britain or the United States, I ground the argument in the first comprehensive analysis of feminist mobilization around abortion law reform in 1970s Italy. During this period, the Italian Parliament approved Law 194/1978, which still regulates abortion access in the country. Beyond traditional legal methods, I draw on original archival materials that span feminist records and parliamentary debates, and new oral history interviews with campaigners.
by Dr Elena Caruso
Senior Research Associate
University of Bristol Law School, United Kingdom
Fellow of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Program
University of Toronto Law School, Canada
Personal website: https://elenacaruso.co.uk/.