Equality or the right to work? Explanation and justification of anti-discrimination rights in employment.

Shim, Jaejin (2008) Equality or the right to work? Explanation and justification of anti-discrimination rights in employment. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the relationship between anti-discrimination rights in employment and equality, on the one hand, and the right to work, on the other hand, in an attempt to achieve a full understanding of this relationship, in terms of three different dimensions: the analytic, the moral and the socio-legal. Firstly, the thesis aims to examine analytically the relationship between anti-discrimination rights in employment and the two values. Secondly, the thesis considers whether such a relationship is morally desirable. Thirdly, it looks at how the current relationship between anti-discrimination rights in employment and equality was established. The thesis adopts three different kinds of methodology, corresponding to each of the three aspects of the relationship mentioned above: conceptual analysis, moral evaluation and socio-legal studies. In a methodological sense, the thesis will explore the conceptual and socio-legal explanation and the justification of anti-discrimination rights with reference to the two values. This thesis firstly concludes that the right to work approach to anti-discrimination in employment, as an alternative to the equality approach, would explain anti-discrimination rights in employment more clearly and consistently. Secondly, it shows that, with reservations in relation to some parts of the prohibition of indirect discrimination, the right to work approach would transform the prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination in a more justifiable way than the equality approach, as the former would solve the justifiability issues caused by the latter. Nonetheless, the socio-legal study of the anti-discrimination laws of the US and UK demonstrates that equality was established as their underlying value in a particular socio-legal context, where economic liberty was dominant in the regulation of the workplace and the social movements were separated from the trade unions, mainly reflecting male or white workers and neglecting the voices of those who were vulnerable to the then prevalent forms of discrimination.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Sociology, Industrial and Labor Relations
Sets:	Collections > ProQuest Etheses Departments > Law
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/2176

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