In Faces of Inequality, Sophia Moreau puts forward a pluralistic theory of how discrimination wrongs people. I approach Moreau's ideas not as a legal philosopher or theorist, but as an empirical and socio-legal scholar of equality law. In this commentary, I pick up on five provocations that emerge for me from Moreau's work: on reasonable accommodations, on comparison in equality law, on the public/private divide, on the justification of discrimination, and on discrimination as a personal wrong. While Moreau's work is grounded in the common themes or shared features that emerge from equality laws across jurisdictions, I consider what these themes mean for the uncommon ground, drawing on exceptional developments in discrimination law in some Australian jurisdictions, and our experience with the “exceptional” protected characteristic of age.

Individuals often invoke the moral rights that they hold as members of certain groups or social categories. Yet, there is ambiguity in both terminology and theorizing surrounding the nature of those rights. Focusing on the paradigmatic case of disabled people’s right to reasonable accommodations, this paper develops a descriptive account of those group-related rights, as a distinct category of rights which I call ‘membership rights’. Membership rights neither fit the concept of ‘human rights’, as not all people hold them, nor are they typical ’group rights’, as they are held by members of some group as individuals, not by groups collectively. In addition, the grounding of membership rights is linked to the distinct features of group members, be it their special interests or special circumstances. Finally, the content of membership rights includes distinct entitlements and correlating duties, which are not secured by human rights, group rights, or any combination thereof. Recognizing the distinct features of membership rights may have practical implications by strengthening efforts to secure legal protection to membership rights. It also invites further theoretical inquiry, for example, towards identifying other specific rights that fit into this category.