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A School Director and Non-discrimination Law

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Book cover Nobody's Law

Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies ((PSLS))

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Abstract

The first case study examines how a school director, the general public and legal professionals in the Netherlands move away from non-discrimination law. The chapter focuses on a ruling by the Equal Treatment Commission, which stated that a public school was wrong to suspend a female Muslim teacher who refused to shake hands with men. The chapter argues that the public controversy following this decision illustrates the way in which non-discrimination law matters in the Netherlands. The empirical research shows that the school director and many other ordinary people feel disconnected from non-discrimination law. Most people in this case study are ‘cynics’ and ‘outsiders’, with some signs of ‘legal meaninglessness’ and ‘legal powerlessness’ but with a strong sense of ‘legal cynicism’ and ‘legal value isolation’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The reconstruction of this case is largely based on open sources, including media reports, newspaper interviews and public rulings and reports from the Commission (on file). All quotations were translated from Dutch into English by the author.

  2. 2.

    Since 2009, the Equal Treatment Commission is part of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.

  3. 3.

    The numbers after each citation refer to the pages in the research report (Hertogh and Zoontjens 2006). All quotations were translated from Dutch into English by the author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Socio-Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Marc Hertogh

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  1. Marc Hertogh
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Correspondence to Marc Hertogh .

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Hertogh, M. (2018). A School Director and Non-discrimination Law. In: Nobody's Law. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60397-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60397-5_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60396-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60397-5

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

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