Oppressive Speech and Society

This volume offers a set of theoretical frameworks for understanding the relationship between oppressive speech and the social structures within which it operates. Central to the volume is the fact that oppressive speech doesn't just harm the target during a conversation; it serves to establish and maintain oppressive norms and structures. The chapters in this volume examines how linguistic acts can have adverse social effects. Additionally, it considers the linguistic and nonlinguistic actions that can undo or prevent conversational and social harms. The chapters are divided into three thematic parts. Part I explains the nature of slurs. These chapters define their conceptual boundaries, forms, and linguistic patterns, as well as the mechanisms via which conversational harm is brought about. Part II considers how oppressive speech changes social norms, establishes oppressive norms, and how long-term harm and cumulative harm emerge. Finally, Part III focuses on response and remedy, considering the actions available to speakers and hearers in addressing and countering oppressive speech. Oppressive Speech and Society will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working at the intersection of philosophy of language and social and political philosophy.

Mihaela Popa-Wyatt is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Manchester, UK. Her primary research areas are philosophy of language and linguistics, meta-ethics, social and political philosophy, social epistemology, and philosophy of race and gender.

Introduction Mihaela Popa-Wyatt Part 1: The Linguistic Nature of Slurs 1. The Pejorative Functioning of Gendered Slurs Lauren Ashwell 2. 'Stupid Women' and 'Rebel Scum': The Problem of Compositional Slurs Graham Stevens 3. Slurs Sting: Silencing, Un-Blockability, and the Intersubjective Dimension of Communication Stephen Barker and Mihaela Popa-Wyatt Part 2: The Social Nature of Oppressive Speech 4. Oppressive Acts Mary Kate McGowan 5. Small Events, Big Effects, and The Two Faces of Institutional Accumulation Ron Mallon 6. Do Agents of Everyday Sexist Speech Acts Discriminate Against Women? Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen Part 3: Social and Political Remedies to Oppressive Speech 7. The Embedded and Embodied Politics of Speech: Social Imaginaries, Affect, and Institutional Power Millicent Churcher and Louise Richardson-Self 8. Does the Baker Have a Free Speech Case? The Expansion of Speech-as-Conduct and Risks to Free Speech Katharine Gelber 9. The Riddle of Hate Speech: Can Sincere Expression Be Morally Wrong? Jamie Mayerfeld