European Union Non-Discrimination Law and Intersectionality: Investigating the Triangle of Racial, Gender and Disability Discrimination

This book contributes to a critical reflection of current legislative and jurisprudential developments in Non-Discrimination Law, focusing on the European Union. The book is focused on intersectionality between gender, race and disability and the question of whether, and to what extent, this intersection can be adequately addressed in (EU) law. The discussion rests on two basic assumptions. First, the multiplication of 'discrimination grounds' in EU law and other legal regimes should not result in a dilution of the demands of equality law. Accordingly, the book focuses on the three key grounds - race, gender and disability. These constitute nodes around which other discrimination grounds can be grouped. Second, any multi-ground non-discrimination law framework needs to engage with the question of discrimination on several grounds. This book provides a critical evaluation of some of the problems presented by such intersectionality and an opportunity to explore the issues in depth. This collection offers some new proposals relating to the regrouping of identity categories and to the general approach to socio-legal research in the field. It also contains a comparative section, which expands on practical experiences with intersectionality and law, and a section dedicated to juridical responses to intersectionality. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers, academics and those working in the area of EU non-discrimination law and policy.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Introduction, Dagmar Schiek and Anna Lawson; Part I Discrimination Grounds and Intersectionality: A Reappraisal: Organising EU equality law around the nodes of 'race', gender and disability, Dagmar Schiek; Intersections between disability, race and gender in discrimination law, Theresia Degener; Disadvantage at the intersection of race and disability: key challenges for EU non-discrimination law, Anna Lawson; Tackling the conceptual order of multiple discrimination: situating different and difficult genealogies of race and ethnicity, Ulrike M. Vieten. Part II Tackling Intersectionality at National Levels: Women with disability in Turkey and France, Ayse Idil Aybars; Promises of an intersectional approach in practice? The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission's case law, Susanne Burri; Intersectional discrimination and the underlying assumptions in the French and German headscarf debates: an adequate legal response?, Stephanie Fehr; The status of Muslim minority women in Greece: second class European citizens?, Stergios Kofinis; Minorities' right to day care: liberal tolerance or identity maintenance?, Kevät Nousiainen; Justice for the whole person: the UK's partial success story, Gay Moon. Part III Convincing the Judiciary to Entertain Intersectional Analysis: Identity-based discrimination and the barriers to complexity, Suzanne B. Goldberg; The assimilationist anti-discrimination paradigm and the immigrant Muslim woman: suggestions on how to re-conceptualise discrimination claims, Lynn Roseberry; A legal remedy for corpulent women of colour, Iyiola Solanke. Part IV Intersections Between Gender, 'Race' and Disability from EU Perspectives: Gendered experiences of racial discrimination: comparative socio-legal research, Isabelle Carles, Erica Howard and Eleonore Kofman; EU non-discrimination law and policies in reaction to intersectional discrimination against Roma women in Central and Eastern Europe, Kristina Koldinská; Intersectionality in EU law: a critical reappraisal, Dagmar Schiek and Jule Mulder; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Professor Dagmar Schiek is Jean Monnet ad personam Chair (EU Law & Policy), School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, UK. She is also working as an advisory expert for the European commission and is a speaker at the European Academy of Law in the field of EU Non-Discrimination Law. She has published widely in the field of EU and national discrimination law. Anna Lawson is a Senior Lecturer in law at the University of Leeds and a member of the University's Centre for Disability Studies as well as its Centre for European Law and Legal Studies. She is also working as an advisory expert for the European Commission and a range of other organisations. She has published widely in the field of disability and equality law. Dagmar Schiek, Anna Lawson, Theresia Degener, Ulrike M. Vieten, Ayse Idil Aybars, Susanne Burri, Stephanie Fehr, Stergios Kofinis, Kevat Nousiainen, Gay Moon, Suzanne B. Goldberg, Lynn Roseberry, Iyiola Solanke, Isabelle Carles, Erica Howard, Eleonore Kofman, Kristina Koldinska, Jule Mulder.

Review :
'This book offers an original and valuable contribution to the study of intersectionality. It successfully blends theoretical critique with comparative study of a rich variety of European legal systems. By focusing on "race", gender and disability, the authors crystallise specific manifestations of intersectionality.' Mark Bell, University of Leicester, UK