Book Review: Anti-Discrimination Law on the Grounds of Race, a Comparative Literature Survey of Provisions in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and The USA
| Published date | 01 March 1995 |
| Date | 01 March 1995 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/135822919500100110 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
International
Journal
of
Discrimination
and
the
Law, 1995, Vol.
1,
pp. 89-94
1358-2291/95 $10
© 1995 A B Academic Publishers. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK
REVIEWS
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE, A
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE SURVEY OF PROVISIONS IN AUS-
TRALIA, NEW ZEALAND,
CANADA
AND
THE
USA.
Martin
MacEwen
(ed.). Published
by
the
Scottish Ethnic Minorities Research Unit
and
the
Commission for Racial Equality,*
1994.
195
pp.
£15.00.
This text offers a comparative literature survey
of
anti-discrimination
provisions aimed at racial discrimination. It comprises four case stud-
ies, namely
of
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The
study, commissioned by the Home Office, offers a review
of
the
lit.:.
erature, identifies the objectives
of
the relevant legislation, its use and
enforcement and reviews monitoring procedures. Material on racial
harassment and incitement is included.
The relevant case law and interpretations
of
statutory provisions
are critically reviewed to ascertain the effectiveness
of
the legislation.
The studies show considerable diversity in powers
of
enforcement
agencies, levels
of
damages and the range
of
remedies. What the jur-
isdictions have in common is the use
of
a conciliation model
of
dis-
pute resolution. Information is provided on demography, employment,
the socio-economic position
of
ethnic minority groups, patterns
of
settlement,
and
the
major
cultural
and
political
issues.
Some
statist-
ical data on the number
of
successful complaints is included.
The Australian review, by Meredith Wilkie, shows that racism is
so 'deeply entrenched' in the structure
of
Australian society that anti-
discrimination provisions and equal opportunity programmes are
unable to erode structural racism although they can deal with overt
racism. Existing anti-discrimination law is also unable to address the
problem
of
the over-representation
of
aborigines in the criminal just-
ice system.
A similar conclusion is drawn by Mai Chen in her review
of
the
working
of
anti-discrimination law in New Zealand. She found that
while overt discrimination has been combatted, covert discrimination
is still prevalent. The positions
of
New Zealand Maoris and Pacific
Island Polynesians are examined and the study includes material on
the criminal justice system and a useful comparison
of
New Zealand
and UK law. The Canadian study by Ian MacKenna, also found that
* Available from SEMRU Edinburgh College
of
Art/Heriot-Watt University, Lauri-
ston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF.
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