Introductory Remarks

This introductory chapter of the book shall help us in developing a sense of the ‘equality problematique’ or ‘equality common sense’ the book critically examines. It builds bridges with leading justice theories and principles, and also places the debate into the multiplicity of legal orders, including domestic constitutionalism, regional ius commune and international law. These introductory remarks also serve to convey a broad idea of the conceptual framework developed throughout the book, emblematic being its ‘principles of recognition’ (principlisation, proceduralisation, specialisation, pluralisation) and its ‘processes and scales of collectivisation’ (juridification/standardisation, establishing sui generis orders, constitutionalisation, institutional mainstreaming, integration/standardisation). Relevant methodological challenges are similarly addressed, and relatedly, a conscious positioning of the book is being sought in terms of the academic disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches it identifies with. It is further attempted to convey a general idea of the concepts used with their theoretical implications, and those broader debates considered most relevant, including, inter-alia, human rights universalism and cultural relativism; human rights generations and other taxonomies; non-discrimination and equality law; post-colonialism and other hegemonial or majoritarian discourse, especially epistemologically-speaking; as well as collective rights, positive discriminatory approaches and politics of recognition.