John Haas

Michael Waltman

The book was awarded the 2011 NCA Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression. This book sets out to explore how hate comes alive in language and actions by examining the nature and persuasive functions of hate in American society. Hate speech may be used for many purposes and have different intended consequences. It may be directed to intimidate an out-group, or to influence the behavior of in-group members. But how does this language function? What does it accomplish? The answers to these questions are addressed by an examination of the communicative messages produced by those with hateful minds. Beginning with an examination of the organized hate movement, the book provides a critique of racist discourse used to recruit and socialize new members, construct enemies, promote valued identities, and encourage ethnoviolence. The book also examines the strategic manipulation of hatred in our everyday lives by politicians, political operatives, and media personalities. Providing a comprehensive overview of hate speech, the book ends by describing the desirable features of an anti-hate discourse that promotes respect for social differences.

The Communication of Hate

This book examines the ways that hatred comes alive in language and discourse. It asks whether much of the discourse on the political right - that which attacks their enemies - is hate speech. Extending Michael Waltman's previous work on hate speech, this book examines the discourse and language produced by a variety of right-wing groups and attempts to determine the homology that exists among their discourses. These groups, which include the racist right wing, the political right wing, the Christian right wing, and the paramilitary right wing, are examined respectively through the lenses of the film &ltI>White Apocalypse, the book &ltI>Atlas Shrugged, the &ltI>Left Behind trilogy of movies, and the web pages maintained by the Republic of the United States of America and the National Rifle Association. The author looks at the discourses of hate produced in these seminal texts in order to identify a homology of exclusion that unites the forms of right-wing extremism, giving them a common frame of reference when confronting social and political challenges.

Michael Waltman

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