Equality Paradigms and Non-discrimination: Theoretical Approximations

The chapter approaches equality paradigms in their proper way(s) of dealing with difference, in shaping minority-majority relations more broadly, in an institutional sense, and as they relate to individual subject holdership. It presents the distinct meanings of equality including formal and substantive equality approaches, but also as these concern inter-group relations and, more distinctively, in domestic constitutional contexts. This includes pluralist approaches which are commonly juxtaposed with settler law; the chapter indeed discusses different forms and formats of legal interactionism and the question of legal spheres. Another classical human rights question being explored concerns subject holdership which may concern, classically speaking, citizenship—also critically approached in terms of its difference-ignorant nature—but equally as it relates to de facto equality and its dedicated meaning for minorities. Further explorations related to the equality principle concern relevant larger consequences such as its exclusionary implications including those exerted by citizenship. A final commonly missing ingredient concerns social justice considerations, also overarchingly, as these may relate to the legal model of the constitution, or in view of the larger minoritisation effects of equality.