차별금지·평등증진·다양성: 평등을 실현하는 법·정책의 구조

초록

This article distinguishes three layers through which human dignity and equality are translated into law and policy: anti-discrimination measures, equality- promotion measures, and diversity (DEI) policy. Anti-discrimination measures define discrimination legally and provide redress, forming the minimum foundation for equality. Yet they operate retrospectively and depend on individual complaints, poorly addressing structural discrimination that rarely becomes an actionable case. Such legislation therefore also prescribes governmental duties, basic plans, education, and affirmative action, which this article terms equality-promotion measures. Diversity policy instead targets the composition and culture of individual organizations, relying on voluntary adoption and indirect regulation. Its recent retrenchment reveals how vulnerable it is without a legal foundation. In Korea all three layers exist, yet no comprehensive anti-discrimination act connects them. Enacting that statute, codifying equality promotion, and fostering diversity policy must proceed together, as these axes form not sequential options but one organic framework.

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