A Journal of One's Own? Beginning the Project of Historicizing the Development of Women's Law Journals

Since the 1970s, feminism has helped transform the university and the production of knowledge. Not only have increasing numbers of female students, professors, and administrators entered universities, they have also created women's studies programs and courses, which have been slowly integrated into the various disciplines and university curricula. Further, feminism has spurred scholars to question traditional ways of knowing and teaching, academic disciplines, categorizations of knowledge, scholarly methodologies, and the university's separation from the broader community. One component in this production and distribution of new knowledge has been the establishment of feminist academic journals such as Feminist Studies (1972), Women's Studies (1972), Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society (1975), and Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies (1975). These journals created a space for the development of a body of literature that was oppositional but also sanctioned, institutionalized, and eventually legitimated.