Dissertation
Discrimination and the foundation of justice
On 29 June, Erwin Dijkstra defended the thesis 'Discrimination and the foundation of justice: hate speech, affirmative action, institutional opinions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Paul Cliteur and Bastiaan Rijpkema.
- Author
- Erwin Dijkstra
- Date
- 29 June 2023
- Links
- Discrimination and the foundation of justice
The right to be protected against discrimination, which is enshrined in international and national human rights catalogues, pertains to us all as individuals. And this fits the ambition of the modern human rights discourse to protect everyone against the power of public institutions as well as private persons and groups. But in many liberal democracies there are often only some groups protected against discrimination and merely in certain situations. This entails both legal-theoretical and practical dilemmas. In the first place because such provisions transgress the boundaries of legitimate state conduct as provided by our rights. But also because many people who need protection against discrimination will lack it. In addition, there is the risk that old stigmas are enforced or new one’s created. Moreover, such a course of action suggests a hierarchy of suffering wherein the suffering of some has priority over that of others. Last but not least, group-based protection against discrimination might engender a struggle within and between groups for the available assistance. On account of the foregoing, one may recommend that the Dutch hate speech ban, quota laws, and institutional opinions that speak out against discrimination – which are currently group-based – can benefit from a more general approach.