ABSTRACT
I want to turn from Cornell’s arguments for the reform of tort law, based upon her original reworking of personhood, to consider the operation of tort law in current legal practice. This involves examining a different relationship between the person and law but my aim continues to be to highlight the ambiguity of women’s current position with regard to personhood in order to rethink its meaning. To do so 1 will employ Francois Ewald’s work on insurance. Insurance plays a central role in legal practice - a point that is lost if the focus is upon perfecting legal tests for liability derived from political philosophy, such as that proposed by Cornell.216 Insurance is now compulsory in all areas in which there is a risk of being sued in tort, for example when persons act as employers, producers of products, professionals, road-traffic users or home owners. It is the insurance system that allows the operation of tort as a system of loss distribution.
