ABSTRACT
We are concerned in this chapter with ideas about what the aims of antidiscrimination both are and should be. There is a distinction between equality of opportunity, which seeks to enable all people to compete equally, in particular in the employment market, and equality of outcome or results, a notion which pays at least some regard to the distribution of outcomes between the various different groups. A further question is whether the law can and should take account of group rights, as opposed to the more traditional approach which focuses on individual rights. Consideration of these issues also requires analysis of rather broader questions concerning the nature of discrimination and why it is unlawful – at least in certain contexts; why racial groups and women have been isolated as groups most worthy of the benefits of anti-discrimination legislation; and whether the ideas lying behind such legislation are appropriate for extension to other groups. Finally, it is necessary to consider whether the law is a suitable weapon or forum for remedying the disadvantages caused by discrimination, or whether it should be abandoned in favour of a more overtly political stance.1
