ABSTRACT
From the perspective of this text, it is not surprising that such challenges have emerged in response to hate crime. As I noted in chapter 2, hegemonic formations are subject to ongoing crisis tendencies that open up space for counterhegemonic strategies. In other words, hegemony implies its own potential demise, since any hegemonic formation is subject to strain, resistance, and transformation. It is a process of struggle. It is in this space that campaigns against the negative and violent politics of difference must be waged in order to transform current patterns into a positive politics of difference. The perceived threats to which hate crimes are a response are themselves indicative of the crisis tendencies that constantly throw the hegemonic order into question. Civil rights movements, wage and employment gains, political empow-erment-all
these and more represent the thin end of the wedge that holds the potential for further rending the fabric of a racist, sexist culture. I remain optimistic that the structures and images underlying hate crime can be mitigated through a positive politics of difference.
