Shreya Atrey is an Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and is based at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. She is an Official Fellow and Racial Justice and Equality Fellow at Kellogg College, and a Senior Teaching Fellow at New College.
Professor Atrey’s research focuses on equality and human rights issues in comparative and international law. Her first monograph, Intersectional Discrimination (OUP 2019) compares a number of jurisdictions finding that “law doesn’t quite respond to intersectional discrimination.”
Mark Bell and Shreya Atrey
She described how “Intersectionality”—a term coined by Kimberlé W. Crenshaw--had taken off in sociology and economics and various other fields except for law, in which, she explains, an individual can’t be discriminated against on more than one ground (for example, if they are both a person of colour and female).
Professor Atrey added however that things are changing in this regard, as she referred to the UK where the Labour government has promised to bring into force the provision on combination discrimination (or “a dual characteristics provision”). She also said there seems to be “a great movement” to embed intersectional discrimination in EU law.
Her latest project ‘Is Racism Beyond Judicial Review?’ is an offshoot of her research on intersectionality, which has led her to narrow her focus around the area of law and racism.
“If we think (as lawyers) we’re not addressing racism through racial discrimination law, then what are we doing with racial discrimination law?”, Professor Atrey asked as she described her desire to reorientate equality law to respond to racism as it exists today.
In a wide ranging conversation which touched on the attacks on critical race theory in the US, and how we understand racism today, Professor Atrey spoke of how her work supports practising lawyers.
Listen here for the full conversation:
Professor Shreya Atrey will speak as part of the upcoming ‘Behind the Headlines’ discussion ‘Humanitarianism in Crisis?’ on the 11 December at the Trinity Long Room Hub. Book your free tickets now.