Finding for the applicant? Individual equality plaintiffs and group-based disadvantage

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Periodical article

Title:	Finding for the applicant? Individual equality plaintiffs and group-based disadvantage
Author:	Pieterse, Marius
Year:	2008
Periodical:	South African Journal on Human Rights
Volume:	24
Issue:	3
Pages:	397-424
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	discrimination constitutional courts jurisprudence
Abstract:	This article reflects on the implications of an individual-centred approach to equality adjudication for the achievement of substantive equality, by considering the extent to which the peculiar characteristics of individual applicants have impacted on the outcomes of equality challenges decided by the Constitutional Court of South Africa. It pinpoints and discusses applicant-specific features of claims alleging unfair discrimination that may influence the outcome of equality matters and problematizes these in relation to the intersectionality of equality claims, the privilege of individual claimants, the extent of their agency and their assimilation to hegemonic societal norms. The article then points to features of the Constitutional Court's approach to equality-adjudication which may frustrate the achievement of substantive equality in this context. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]