Introduction
Christopher McCrudden, ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW, Ashgate, 2004
Posted: 26 Jul 2004
Abstract
This introduction to a collection of articles on anti-discrimination law published between 1990 and 2002 considers the changing legal context in which the intellectual debate about anti-discrimination took place during this period, as well as some of the effects of these changes on the scholarly literature. It explains the scheme of classification used for situating the essays included in the selection. In brief, the essays are divided - somewhat arbitrarily as they often touch on several themes - between four themes: libertarian critics of anti-discrimination law, and responses to that criticism; theories founded on the ideal of human dignity; theories justifying anti-discrimination law on grounds of economic distributive justice; and theories based on the idea that anti-discrimination law can best be seen from the perspective of protecting and enhancing group and individual identities. At the risk of stating the obvious, this review of the literature attempts merely to select from a large pool of scholarly writings, and neither to be comprehensive in its coverage of the issues raised, nor of the relevant writings on any particular issue.
Keywords: equality, discrimination, anti-discrimination law, legal theory
JEL Classification: K19, K20, K31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation