12th Annual Conference of the
Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
July 2-4, 2025
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Call for Papers
The deadline to submit proposals has passed.
If you submitted a proposal, and received a confirmation of receipt, we will get back to you regarding the status of your proposal in March. If you submitted a proposal and have not yet received a confirmation of receipt, please let the review committee know by emailing Charlie Tsunoda at charlietsunoda@berkeley.edu.
Click here to view the call for papers
Conference Theme
The (R)evolution of Equality Law: Reflecting on 25 Years of Anti-Discrimination Law in Europe & Beyond
The adoption of the Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC) and the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) in 2000 marked a transformative moment in the EU’s commitment to combatting discrimination and promoting equality. These directives – followed by other legislation in subsequent years – established a robust yet broad and general legal framework prohibiting discrimination on grounds including race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, gender, and sexual orientation using a variety of conceptual tools to challenge discrimination in employment, social protection, education, and access to goods and services.
However, since the implementation of these directives, the realization of the full vision of EU law and policy in this field has faced significant challenges. The EU’s legal framework often struggles to capture the complexities of intersecting identities, such as multiple and intersectional discrimination, based on several protected grounds. Moreover, while the directives address overt and localized instances of discrimination, they perhaps remain less equipped to dismantle structural and systemic inequalities that perpetuate disadvantage across different social spheres and generations. Profound changes in the technological landscape, particularly the emergence and mainstreaming of different manifestations of artificial intelligence, have raised new questions concerning equality and anti-discrimination.
The commemoration of 25 years of this (r)evolution of anti-discrimination law in Europe and beyond presents an opportune moment to reflect on the achievements, limitations, and future potential of equality law globally.