Equality, Diversity and Non-Discrimination: Legal and critical perspectives

What is equality, and why is it considered so important in our legal systems? Can law be used to promote both equality and diversity? How can law be used to prohibit discrimination? Are there effective strategies against inter-sectional discrimination.

These are some of the questions that we will tackle during the course Equality, Diversity and Discrimination. More specifically, we take the starting point in equality and non-discrimination as fundamental principles of law, both in the national level of the legal order, as well as in the European and international levels. By applying various theoretical approaches to equality and non-discrimination – ranging from traditional liberal and socialist theories to diverse critical perspectives, including feminist, post-colonial and queer perspectives – we seek to broaden and deepen the analysis of equality and non-discrimination. By conducting specific case studies focusing on gender-based approaches to law and on how difference and diversity is addressed in law, the theoretical approach will come to concrete use. The jurisdictional focuses of the case studies are on Sweden, Europe and the United Nations.