Hateful subjectivities: Using intersectionality to inform a Critical Hate Studies perspective.

Abstract

Introduction. This chapter explores the role of neo-liberal capitalism, as the prevailing socio-economic and political grammar of our contemporary society, in the construction and proliferation of hate throughout society today. Hate is not a modern-day phenomenon (Petrosino, 1999). Imperialist colonialism and the bludgeoning ‘success’ of Empire has indelibly shaped social relations (see for example, Bowling and Phillips, 2012), enabling and sustaining increasing disparities between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. The critical hate studies perspective (James and McBride, 2018) acknowledges how historic inequalities according to structures including class, gender and race continue to inform who gains access to power and privilege today. Critical hate studies builds upon this existing knowledge base to consider how and why hate happens in contemporary society. In doing so critical hate studies stresses the significance of processes of identity formation as acknowledged within ultra-realist criminology (Winlow and Hall, 2015) to provide a full appreciation of both the extent of hate harms experienced by victims, as well as what informs the motivations of those who are responsible for inflicting harm against others.