ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 examines some of the many ways in which the terms ‘hate speech’ and ‘so-called hate speech’ have become highly politicised, including in disputes about the causes of hate speech, what counts as hate speech and whether or not to ban it. We reject both the suggestion that the real problem of hate speech is in calling it ‘a problem’ and the idea that because people disagree about what counts as hate speech it should never be prohibited. But we also address attempts in the literature to define the legal concept hate speech and argue that it is important not to forget context in the process. After that we try to map out some of the main sites of hate speech problems: individuals, groups, society, technology, law, politics and international relations. Finally, we explain the different methodologies employed in the book and provide a brief survey of the canon of literature on hate speech to which we seek to make a contribution (to challenge, develop or simply move beyond), as well as the wider topics of academic study with which our investigation overlaps in places.
