A Fraserian theory of anti-discrimination law

Abstract

To be part of progressive political projects, anti-discrimination law needs to be critical of its role in contemporary societies, where it is faced with processes of modernisation that push towards social/political disintegration and systemic/market integration. This article attempts to locate anti-discrimination law within a theory of social/political emancipation, in order to understand both its strengths and limits. In that regard, it uses elements and insights from Nancy Fraser’s critical theory to argue that anti-discrimination law is an anti-misrecognition device that operates within an interimbrication of different spheres: culture, economy and politics. In societies facing complex and systemic challenges, anti-discrimination law constitutes an interesting case of non-reformist reform. Indeed, anti-discrimination law can be a first step, with the materials we have at hand, towards elaborating progressive political projects that could reinforce the current struggles for human emancipation and alter the terrain upon which later struggles will be mounted.