This book critically examines the development of the ‘stirring up hatred’ offences which are currently found within the UK’s Public Order Act 1986. Through a critical discourse analysis of key excerpts of parliamentary Hansard, the book constructs a detailed genealogy of the offences from the perspectives that shaped them. A novel application of theory on 'myth' is used to navigate the complex arguments and to trace ideas about identity and order across parliamentary debates, from fears of Fascism in the 1930s to condemnations of homophobia in the early 21st century. The story of the stirring up hatred offences told in this book therefore extends far beyond the traditional frame of a dilemma between regulating hate speech and safeguarding free speech: it is inextricably entwined with myths about law, race and national identity, and speaks to wider themes of coloniality, neoliberalism, white entitlement, British-Christian exceptionalism and the innocence of law. Written in an accessible and engaging style, this book challenges a wide range of assumptions about hate speech law and raises a series of considerations for developing forms of accountability that are less complicit in the harms that they are supposed to redress.
Author(s): Jen Neller
Series: Palgrave Hate Studies
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 308
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
The Legislation
The Current Legislation
Evolution of the Offences/Chapter Overview
The Legal Context
Domestic Legal Context
Hate Crime
Public Order
Incitement
International Legal Context
Freedom of Expression
Duty to Legislate Against Racial and Religious Hate Speech
Duty to Legislate Against Hate Speech on Other Grounds
The Method
Genealogy
Parliamentary Debates
Critical Discourse Analysis
The Language
Talking About Hatred
Talking About Identity Groups
Talking About ‘Britishness’
References
2 Myth, Identity, Order
Introduction
Myth
Myth and Logos
Myth and Pathos
Myth and Ethos
Identity
Imagined Communities
Bio/Necropolitics
Fantasies and Fetishes of Difference
Ressentiment
Order
The Value of ‘Public Order’
Ordering Subjects
Law and Order
Conclusion
References
3 Peace and Liberty: Public Order Act 1936
Introduction
Case Law
Local Acts
Draft Public Order Legislation
The Problem
Risks of violence
Antisemitism and Racism
Violations of liberty
Blame
Fascism: A Foreign Aberration
“Whether of the Right or of the Left”
Structural Causes
Solutions
Provocative Legislation?
Specifying Grounds
Conclusion
References
4 Race and Order: Public Order Act 1963 and Race Relations Acts 1965 and 1976
Introduction
After World War II
The Public Order Act 1963 (POA63)
The Race Relations Act 1965 (RRA65)
The Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA76)
Visions of order
Risks of violence
Freedom of speech
Equality
Differentiating Identities
‘Race’ in the law
Distinguishing Religion
Racialisation and Deracialisation
Whiteness and Ressentiment
Conclusion
References
5 Class and Control: Public Order Act 1986
Introduction
Thatcherite Neoliberalism
New Threats to Public Order (s 5)
Young Savages and Vulnerable Victims
Counternarratives
Organised Protest (Part II)
The Life of the Community
Freedom and Intimidation
Stirring Up Racial Hatred in the New Public Order (Part III)
The Scope of the Stirring Up Hatred Offences
The Harms of Racial Hatred
Conclusion
References
6 Being and Believing: Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
Introduction
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA)
Religious Discrimination and Remedies Bill
Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA)
Religious Offences Bill
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA)
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 (RRHA)
Defining Religious Hatred and the Scope of the RRHA
The Legal Gap
The Relationship Between Race and Religion
Distinguishing Between Beliefs and Believers
‘Managing Diversity’
Vulnerable or Dangerous Victims
Tolerance
Integration
Conclusion
References
7 Progress and Tradition: Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Introduction
The Legal Gap
S 5 Public Order Act 1986 and s 146 Criminal Justice Act 2003
The Common Law Offence of Incitement and the Serious Crime Act 2007
The Commensurability of Categories
Mutability
Being and Doing
SO Hatred and Public Order
Alterity in Victim and Villain Identities
Christian Privilege and Ressentiment
Alienating Homophobia
Conclusion
References
8 Decoloniality and Deneoliberality: A Six-Point Toolkit
Introduction
Resisting Colonial and Neoliberal Logics in Hate Speech Law
Resist Adjudicating Identities: Focus on the Hatred
Resist Majoritarian ‘Balancing’: Promote Dignity
Resist the Problematisation of Difference: Focus on the Hatred
Resist Fantasies of Virtue: Promote Accountability
Resist Pacification: Celebrate Dynamism
Resist Fear: Nurture Compassion
Conclusion
References
Appendix: Hansard
Index
