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European anti‐discrimination legislation explicitly calls for member states to consider a legal response to multiple discrimination, either additive (arising from many grounds) or intersectional (a result of an interaction of grounds). In traditional Anglo‐American anti‐discrimination frameworks the structure of separate statutes forces complainants to choose one ground or another. In Britain, cases such as Nwoke v Government Legal Service indicate a judicial willingness to recognise additive discrimination, while cases such as Bahl highlight the difficulties of dealing with intersectionality. This article suggests that to overcome current difficulties with intersectional discrimination, first the qualitative difference of intersectional claims must be clarified; secondly, the logic of immutability underlying grounds must be replaced by one which accommodates intersectionality; and thirdly, a method is required which enables courts systematically to incorporate social context into judicial decision‐making. With these three changes, the qualitative difference of intersectionality can be both understood and activated in the courts.

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This article uses a disaggregated approach to study the role of the Advocate General in the European Court of Justice (CJ). It presents original empirical material based upon interviews with Advocates General (AsG) and referendaires at the CJ to assess the question of activism at the Court. Using answers to specific questions, I conclude that while the AsG are entrepreneurs, neither they nor the Court can be described as 'activist' per se.

In her evocative masterpiece, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, published in 1991, Patricia Williams captured a moment in American legal thought that marked a turning point in expressions about race and power, and the implications for social equality. It contained lessons extending beyond America's unique race history, to the general social and political dynamics in liberal democracy that create conditions of privilege and exclusion. She invited us to think about the place of law in the social and institutional practices that sustain status quo hierarchies, despite proclaimed civil rights commitments to justice. She also inspired hope that the role of the lawyer could be one of mutinous agitator-struggling from the inside, using the tools and skills of practice to support the causes of identifiable communities and social movements. Dans son chef-d'oeuvre évocateur, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, publié en 1991, Patricia Williams a saisi un moment dans la pensée juridique américaine qui a marqué un tournant au niveau des expressions concernant la race et le pouvoir, ainsi que les répercussions pour l'égalité sociale. L'ouvrage contenait des leçons qui allaient au-delà de l'histoire raciale unique des États-Unis et qui abordaient la dynamique sociale et politique générale de la démocratie libérale qui crée des conditions de privilège et d'exclusion. L'auteure nous a invités à examiner la place du droit dans les pratiques sociales et institutionnelles qui maintiennent les hiérarchies du statu quo, malgré les engagements en matière de droits civils qui ont été pris en faveur de la justice. Elle a aussi laissé espérer que l'avocat pourrait jouer un rôle d'agitateur rebelle-luttant de l'intérieur, en utilisant les outils et compétences pratiques pour soutenir les causes des collectivités et des mouvements sociaux identifiables.