ABSTRACT
In this chapter I wish to raise a dilemma for feminism. I have outlined in previous chapters the limits of law reform, indeed, I have tried to go far beyond this formulation altogether. If we reject the idea of law as a simple tool of liberation or of oppression, and look at how it constitutes a kind of institutionalized and formalized site of power struggles-one that can provide resources for women, children, and men, albeit differentially-then it is possible to acknowledge that it remains an important strategic element in political confrontations. Yet it seems we cannot know in advance whether a recourse to law will empower women, children, or men, although there is a substantial and wellfounded fear that legal power works better for (white, middle-class) men than for anyone else.
