The Sexual Contract

Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988. First American edition (first printing) of this important feminist examination of human rights, arguing that traditional praises of the 'social contract' as discussed by Locke, Hobbes, & Rousseau, and incorporated into the American foundational documents ignore the unacknowledged patriarchy inherent in traditional contractual systems, the marriage contract most of all, but including employment, prostitution, and surrogate motherhood. The author argues that traditional contract theory cannot be turned to progressive uses, being inherently heirarchical. British-born and educated, the author was at the time of publication a Reader in Government at the University of Sydney and shortly thereafter went to UCLA, where she has remained. Hardcover in jacket, as pictured. Light wear to book; jacket shows light tanning & minor edgwear. Text clean; xi, blank, 264 pages; index, notes. . First American Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. Octavo.