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In this paper, I take up (some) feminists' invitation to theorize the "more responsive state" as a possible mechanism for addressing some of the structural causes of economic and other disparities. Three premises upon which my theoretical account rests are: (1) because of the profound effects of state institutions on the kinds of people we are and lives we lead, the basic structure of society must be "the primary subject of justice"; (2) location matters - historically, culturally, geographically, socially; the focus of my inquiry is North America; and (3) the socio-political developments following from the complex range of policies and processes we call 'globalization' require that we do something more than simply theorize the role of the state; these developments require theoretical engagement with the form, nature and location of the state itself. While the creative and normative dimensions of choices made around state identity have been acknowledged and canvassed in a wide variety of contexts (especially in Europe and especially in disciplines outside law), feminist legal theorists in the United States rarely challenge the legitimacy of the Westphalian state system per se. Organizing theories of the state around this system is complicated by forces pushing in the direction of deepening continental integration in North America. Typical feminist responses to integration are grounded in assertions of sovereignty; that is, resistance is described in terms of anti-integration/anti-globalization discourse. In this paper, I argue that integration is both a threat and a promise, potentially and simultaneously a location of dominance and resistance. There is nothing about integration qua integration that portends the institutionalization of a particular set of values, nor closes the transformative process to particular institutional actors. In these circumstances, there is a pressing need for deeper and more nuanced inquiries by feminist and other critical legal scholars of the meaning of, and potential for, North American integration to achieve the substantive equality envisioned by feminists and other activists. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is part of a larger project that explores the effects of transnational economic integration (including international commitments to facilitate this process) on the ability of domestic governments to regulate intra-nationally in North America. In particular, I am interested in the effects and implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement for the development and protection of laws designed to protect and support vulnerable populations in Canada and the United States. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the possibility that we are in the process of institutionalising a transnational space in North America that is constitutive of a new polity. As part of that examination I look at competing definitions of sovereignty and institutionalisation, and consider their relevance to the North American context. Drawing on the work of constitutional scholars, political scientists, philosophers and others, I argue that while institutionalisation may be the functional equivalent of constitutionalisation in some contexts - arguably Europe, for example - it is both descriptively and normatively inadequate to the task of understanding the process (and fact) of polity-building in North America. Nevertheless, I conclude that understanding institutionalisation as something short of constitutionalisation does not mean it has no implications or relevance for understanding the challenges to national sovereignty in N.A. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]