Book review: Discrimination as Stigma: A Theory of Anti-discrimination Law
| Author | Paul Quinn |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1358229117728621 |
| Subject Matter | Book review |
Book review
Book review
IYIOLA SOLANKE, Discrimination as Stigma: A Theory of Anti-discrimination Law. Oxford: Hart, 2016,
pp. 256, ISBN: 9781849467384, £70.00 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Paul Quinn, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
DOI: 10.1177/1358229117728621
Being a legal scholar interested in the relationship of the phenomenon of stigmatization
with important societal and legal questions, the opportunity to review this work was not
to be passed up. Efforts by legal scholars to explore in any meaningful way the phenom-
ena of stigmatization and the research relating to it have been few and far between. As
the author identifies in her introduction, the use of stigmatization as a concept in legal
judgments, analysis and writings has been rare. Where it has occurred references have
been superficial, without meaningful analysis and often employing what can only be
understood to be an intuitive understanding of the concept (p. 38). This stands in stark
contrast to the rich and varied research that has occurred in recent decades surrounding
the phenomenon. At its core, this book is a brave (and to be applauded) attempt to
undertake an exploration of such issues from a legal scholar’s perspective and relate
such findings to the issue of discrimination and legal approaches intended to tackle it. In
doing so, it was the author’s aim to formulate a principle (the ‘anti-stigma principle’) that
would guide the formulation and implementation of anti-discrimination law (an impor-
tant goal, given the close relationship between the two concepts) (p. 38).
Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the concept of stigmatization, starting with
Goffman’s seminal work and then briefly explaining a number of developments that
have occurred in the decades since. These include contributions from fields such as
psychology, public health and sociology. It is the last of these areas that appears to
inform the author’s outlook to the greatest extent and to which she mostly draws upon
in attempting to form her own thesis on the relevance of the concept of stigmatization to
anti-discrimination law.
Chapter 2 looks at the common elements of many anti-discrimination approaches,
ranging from the philosophical inspiration behind them (mostly focusing on themes of
equality) to the manifestation of anti-discrimination approaches in international law. The
law focuses on the common use of exhaustive lists to define the categories that deserve
protection from discrimination and the importance of the concept of ‘immutability’ to
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2017, Vol. 17(3) 213–216
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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