Hate, Politics, Law: Critical Perspectives on Combating Hate

References to hate have become ubiquitous in the modern response to group defamation and violence in liberal democracies. Whether expressed in speech, acted out in criminal conduct, or seen as the fuel of terror and extremism, hate is persistently considered a vice, an evil, and a threat to the modern liberal democracy. But what exactly is at stake when societies oppose hate? In Hate, Politics, Law: Critical Perspectives on Combating Hate, Thomas Brudholm and Birgitte Schepelern Johansen have gathered a group of distinguished scholars who offer a critical exploration and assessment of the basic assumptions, ideals, and agendas behind the modern fight against hate. They explore these issues and provide a range of explanatory and normative perspectives on the awkward relationship between hate and liberal democracy, as expressed, for example, through anti-hate speech and anti-hate crime initiatives. The volume further examines the presuppositions and ideological roots of fighting hate, as well as its blind spots and limits. It also includes discussions on the definition and meaning of hate, the longer and broader history of the concept of hate, and when and why fighting hatred became politically salient. While most research on hate crime is written and published in order to prevent and combat hate, Hate, Politics, Law takes a much-needed theoretical, historical, and exploratory approach to hatred.

Introduction, Thomas Brudholm & Birgitte Schepelern Johansen Part I: Historicizing Hatred 1. From Race to Hate: A Historical Perspective, Erik Bleich 2. Hate and the State in Ancient Greece, David Konstan Part II: Conceptualizing Hatred 3. Dwelling on Hatred, Thomas Brudholm 4. Problematizing Hatred in Democratic States, Niza Yanay 5. Towards a Legal Concept of Hatred: Democracy, Ontology, and the Limits of Deconstruction, Eric Heinze Part III: Responses to Hatred 6. Criminalizing Hate?, Antony R. Duff & Sandra E. Marshall 7. Readdressing Hate Crime: Synthesizing Law, Punishment, and Restorative Justice, Mark A. Walters 8. Tolerance: An Appropriate Answer to Hate?, Birgitte Schepelern Johansen 9. From Hate to Political Solidarity: The Art of Responsibility, Mihaela Mihai Part IV: Democratic Hatreds? 10. Democratic Hatreds: The Making of "the hating enemy" in Liberal Democracy, Mikkel Thorup 11. When the State Hates, Kathryn Abrams Epilogue Concluding Thoughts: The Legality and Politics of Hatred, Robert Post