Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States

Free Speech and Hate Speech in the United States explores the concept and treatment of hate speech in light of escalating social tensions in the global twenty-first century, proposing a shift in emphasis from the negative protection of individual rights toward a more positive support of social equality. Drawing on Axel Honneth's theory of recognition, the author develops a two-tiered framework for free speech analysis that will promote a strategy for combating hate speech. To illustrate how this framework might impact speech rights in the U.S., she looks specifically at hate speech in the context of symbolic speech, disparaging speech, internet speech and speech on college campuses. Entering into an ongoing debate about the role of speech in society, this book will be of key importance to First Amendment scholars, and to scholars and students of communication studies, media studies, media law, political science, feminist studies, American studies, and history.

Chris Demaske is an Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma.

Introduction 1. Defining hate Speech 2. Favoring Human Rights: The International Response 3. Favoring Free Speech: The U.S. Response 4. First Amendment Theories: Arguments and Counter Arguments 5. Social Justice, Recognition Theory, and A New Legal Landscape 6. From R.A.V. v. St. Paul to Matal v. Tam: The Parameters of Restriction 7. Hate Speech and the Internet: Elonis v. U.S. 8. Campus Speech: Hate Speech versus Free Speech Conclusion