THE LAW ON PARITY - AN EYE-WASH SOLUTION

Josette Trat opposes, from three angles, the viewpoint developed by El iane Viennot: she argues that the duality of the human race cannot be a frame of reference for political institutions. But she identifies wi th the effort to transcend the abstract universalism of the French con stitutional system, which is why she suggests demanding a national cha mber for women's rights. J. Trat claims, however, that the ''crisis'' of traditional parliamentary democracy is even deeper than E. Viennot contends, since it is linked not only to women's structural underrepre sentation in political life, but also to the worsening of exploitation and social exclusion over a number of years. In conclusion, the autho r contests as irrelevant the principle of an alliance of all women aro und the ''parity'' issue, in the absence of a societal project challen ging social inequalities themselves and the sexual division of labor a t all levels.