ABSTRACT
The chapter sets out, critically, the key theories of women’s human rights which are utilised throughout the book to understand the role of the human rights framework in addressing the inequality and subordination experienced by women across India. The theories overviewed in this chapter are not exhaustive. The chapter begins by tracing the emergence of key feminist legal theories – liberal, cultural and radical – and overviews the critique of those theories by postmodern feminist theorists. The chapter then documents how women’s human rights theories emerged within and alongside feminist legal theory to critique the conceptualisation of human rights in international instruments. Finally, this chapter collates core principles of the different women’s human right’s theories and blends them to provide a theoretical framework for the book.
