MacKinnon specializes in sex equality issues under international and domestic law. She pioneered the legal claim for sexual harassment and, with Andrea Dworkin, created ordinances recognizing pornography as a civil rights violation and the Swedish model (Equality Model) for abolishing prostitution.
Among the most widely cited legal scholars in the English language, MacKinnon has authored more than a dozen books and scores of journal articles, and she practices and consults internationally. Her approaches to equality, pornography, and hate speech have worldwide influence.
“Discrimination and lies and shunning against opponents of sexual violation are never surprising, and they don’t stop. This recognition by the British Academy, by contrast, is astonishing,” MacKinnon said.
“I hope this exceptional moment, such an unexpected embrace of my work, inspires younger people to see that appeasing power may not be the requisite route to ‘success’ they have been taught it is.”
MacKinnon is also the long-term James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and has taught at universities in the US, Canada, Switzerland, and Israel. She was awarded residential fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study, Stanford University, the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and the University of Cambridge.
Representing Bosnian women survivors of Serbian genocidal sexual atrocities, MacKinnon, along with her co-counsel, won a damage award of $745 million in August 2000 in Kadic v. Karadzic under the Alien Tort Act—the first recognition of rape as an act of genocide. From 2008 to 2012, she served as the first special gender adviser to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where she implemented her concept of gender crime.
“Congratulations to Professor MacKinnon on this well-deserved honor,” Interim Dean Kyle Logue said. “It’s gratifying to see such a prestigious institution as the British Academy recognize her substantial contributions to the law, academia, and our broader society.”
MacKinnon is one of 86 leading scholars from the humanities and social sciences elected to the British Academy Fellowship this year. They join a community of more than 1,700 distinguished academics who previously earned the distinction from the academy, which is the United Kingdom’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. The British Academy works to leverage these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future.
Welcoming the new fellows for 2024, British Academy President Julia Black said, “We are delighted to welcome this year’s cohort of fellows, and I offer my warmest congratulations to each and every one. Since the academy was created in 1902, our fellows have been the lifeblood of the organization, representing the very best of our disciplines—and we would not have the impact we have without their expertise, time, and energy. I very much look forward to working closely with our new fellows; the breadth and depth of their expertise adds so much to the academy.”
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