These paragraphs are a fair representation of what Sen discusses
in the first Part of the essay, but the piece is in fact much
broader. It goes on to explore, among other things, the
"originalist" approach to constitutional interpretation and
judicial consideration of foreign law. Words have meanings,
often more than one. Many words also have evocative power and
communicative reach that go well beyond the restricted use of
these terms with well-defined professional delineation. In 1911,
when Christabel Pankhurst asserted in a speech in London that
“we are here to claim our right as women, not only to be free,
but to fight for freedom,” adding that this is “our right as
well as our duty,” she communicated a great deal. And she did so
despite the difference between her use of the term “right” and
any legal concept of “right” that could be sustained as a claim
in any then-existing court of law. Women did not have the right
to vote in Britain in 1911, nor would that right be achieved
until seventeen years after P