ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we want to explore the relationship between the status of women in any society and the prevailing form of order. We have been looking at several different types of society and at theories about what is a ‘natural order’, as opposed to an imposed order – an opposition between consensus and conflict, and the role of law in reproducing or maintaining, constructing or destroying the existing order. By looking at the way in which women are treated in actual societies or in social theory – some of the issues may become clearer, even if solutions remain as tenuous as ever.
