Title: Discrimination as Stigma: A Theory of Anti-discrimination Law
Abstract: In a hastily re-drafted preface, Professor Iyiola Solanke suggests that the electoral success of President Donald Trump and the fallout from the UK’s referendum on ‘Brexit’ have revealed an uncomfortable truth: undisguised sexism and unrepentant racism are not relics discarded in the progressive march towards greater equality. The fundamental achievements of the equality movement are far more fragile than we hoped and deep ‘wells of social hatred and hostility towards women and minority groups’ persist. Indeed, Solanke muses: ‘It is as if 50 years of anti-discrimination law did not happen’ (v). Within this climate, Solanke’s monograph, Discrimination as Stigma, aims to contribute to the prevention of discrimination and the strengthening of anti-discrimination law through the theorisation of a ‘singular logic that can explain why discrimination is wrong’ (3). Solanke turns to a sociologically informed concept of stigma to accomplish this feat. In this project, Solanke is in good company. Over the last few years, there has been a revived interest in deepening our understanding of the rationale for anti-discrimination law and in establishing the coherent limits on this field of law. Various theories of anti-discrimination law have been proposed, drawing upon a range of philosophical perspectives that emphasise autonomy, deliberative freedom and respect.1 However, this monograph provides an original approach to these debates because of its deployment of both Erving Goffman’s interactional sociology and the insights of the critical social psychology movement. Using these instruments, Solanke constructs a theory of anti-discrimination law centred on stigma and power, which is very much cognizant of the myriad levels at which discrimination operates in society. In this reviewer’s opinion, one of the principle strengths of Solanke’s work is its willingness to creatively draw upon this sociological literature that complements and challenges anti-discrimination scholarship, while at the same time seeking to extend and complicate its scope to address spheres of social life significant for discrimination.
Publication Year: 2018
Publication Date: 2018-06-11
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 44
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