Richard T. Ford – författare

This timely Reader brings together, for the first time, key writings on the relation between law and geography in an effort to clarify the connections between these two increasingly complex concepts.

What is black culture? Does it have an essence? What do we lose and gain by assuming that it does, and by building our laws accordingly? This bold and provocative book questions the common presumption of political multiculturalism that social categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality are defined by distinctive cultural practices. Richard Ford argues against law reform proposals that would attempt to apply civil rights protections to "cultural difference." Unlike many criticisms of multiculturalism, which worry about "reverse discrimination" or the erosion of core Western cultural values, the book's argument is primarily focused on the adverse effects of multicultural rhetoric and multicultural rights on their supposed beneficiaries. In clear and compelling prose, Ford argues that multicultural accounts of cultural difference do not accurately describe the practices of social groups. Instead these accounts are prescriptive: they attempt to canonize a narrow, parochial, and contestable set of ideas about appropriate group culture and to discredit more cosmopolitan lifestyles, commitments, and values.The book argues that far from remedying discrimination and status hierarchy, "cultural rights" share the ideological presuppositions, and participate in the discursive and institutional practices, of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Ford offers specific examples in support of this thesis, in diverse contexts such as employment discrimination, affirmative action, and transracial adoption. This is a major contribution to our understanding of today's politics of race, by one of the most distinctive and important young voices in America's legal academy.

This revised and updated casebook comprehensively compares the U.S. legal approach to problems of inequality and discrimination with the approaches of a variety of other legal systems around the world, including those in Europe, South Africa, China, Colombia, India and Brazil. This book provides an introduction to theories of equality and sources of equality law, and examines inequality and discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and identity, religion and disability.Key features:Extensive chapter notes add critical context to areas of developing lawAnalysis of a range of sources: each chapter includes case law, treaty law, statutory law, regulatory law and legal scholarshipA comparative problem-based approach, using concrete issues of inequality and discrimination to help students focus on real world concernsExamination of key contested topics such as marriage inequality, the rights of persons with disabilities, affirmative action, reproductive rights, employment discrimination and hate speechA supplementary online course with additional content and guidance for both students and instructors is available through Stanford Law School.Written in a thorough yet accessible style and with contributions from leading international legal scholars, this casebook is ideal for lecture courses, seminars and summer programs in equality and anti-discrimination in law schools, as well as undergraduate courses in law, political science and sociology.Contributors include: D. Allen, P.L. Cherian, D. Collier, J. Damamme, T. Degener, R. Ford, S. Foster, S. Han, K. Loper, S. Misra, D.B. Oppenheimer, M.-C. Pauwels, S. Robin-Olivier, B. Wang, W. Zhou