A typology of comparators and comparisons in EU equality law

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"font face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT, serif"comparison also deflects EU equality law from its main task: identifying and dismantling systems of marginalization that cause discrimination. This article disrupts the prevailing narrative about comparison as an inescapable feature of equality analysis. A closer look at comparison reveals its objective veneer that conceals its commitment to sustaining a formal model of equality. This makes equality law an assimilationist, instead of an inclusive device. By deviating from comparison, EU equality law can advance towards an inclusive understanding of equality that centres intersectionality. The key therefore lies in the development of comparator-free equality analysis, which relies on the understanding that discrimination is contingent on unequal power and resource distribution, creating systems of marginalization. Hence, instead of comparing a claimant to a decontextualized intercategorical or intracategorical comparator, comparator-free analysis conducts a dignitary harm assessment whereby discrimination is contextualized in the past and contemporary patterns of disadvantage underlying it to establish a prima facie case of discrimination. /font