Ivana Isailovic works on the interplay between transnational law and questions of identity formation and marginalization. Her research and teaching interests include transnational law, family law, human rights law, gender studies and critical legal theory. Prior to joining NYU Ivana was the Boulton fellow at McGill Law School where she taught a seminar on Social Diversity and Law. She holds a PhD from Sciences Po Paris (2014) and was a postdoctoral researcher at Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) where she coordinated and helped create the Equality law clinic. She holds a Master Degree in International Law from Sorbonne University and a joint degree from Columbia Law School, Sciences Po and Sorbonne University.
Research Project
Family law in the transnational context: EU anti-discrimination law, family and the market.
My research examines how globalization affects family law, described both strictly (e.g. the definition of marriage) and broadly (e.g. the regulation of abortion). Of the many globalizing forces at play, I am particularly interested in how the expansion of human rights regimes, the growth of international organizations and activist networks and the intensification of immigration patterns and economic exchanges are impacting how different legal actors — supranational and domestic decision makers, and transnational activists — shape family law in the transnational context.
At NYU, I will explore how the relationship between the growing EU anti-discrimination regime and states’ definition of partnership, marriage and parenthood is affecting our understanding of family, gender and the relationship between law, family and the market. I plan to focus on two case studies: the regulation of surrogacy and the definition of partnership. In order to do so, I will examine the EU legislation that bears upon these two issues, including EU equality legislation, European Court of Justice’s decisions, as well as ‘soft’ legal instruments and feminist scholarship studying how law has shaped and addressed women’s experiences through its regulation of the family and the market.