
Considering Hate
Violence, Goodness, and Justice in American Culture and Politics
Beacon Press
Published on 19. January 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
184 pages
978-0-8070-4295-3 (ISBN)
Description
A provocative book about rethinking hatred and violence in America
Over the centuries American society has been plagued by brutality fueled by disregard for the humanity of others: systemic violence against Native peoples, black people, and immigrants. More recent examples include the Steubenville rape case and the murders of Matthew Shepard, Jennifer Daugherty, Marcelo Lucero, and Trayvon Martin. Most Americans see such acts as driven by hate. But is this right? Longtime activists and political theorists Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski boldly assert that American society's reliance on the framework of hate to explain these acts is wrongheaded, misleading, and ultimately harmful.
All too often Americans choose to believe that terrible cruelty is aberrant, caused primarily by "extremists" and misfits. The inevitable remedy of intensified government-based policing, increased surveillance, and harsher punishments has never worked and does not work now. Stand-your-ground laws; the US prison system; police harassment of people of color, women, and LGBT people; and the so-called war on terror demonstrate that the remedies themselves are forms of institutionalized violence.
Considering Hate challenges easy assumptions and failed solutions, arguing that "hate violence" reflects existing cultural norms. Drawing upon social science, philosophy, theology, film, and literature, the authors examine how hate and common, even ordinary, forms of individual and group violence are excused and normalized in popular culture and political discussion. This massive denial of brutal reality profoundly warps society's ideas about goodness and justice.
Whitlock and Bronski invite readers to radically reimagine the meaning and structures of justice within a new framework of community wholeness, collective responsibility, and civic goodness.
Over the centuries American society has been plagued by brutality fueled by disregard for the humanity of others: systemic violence against Native peoples, black people, and immigrants. More recent examples include the Steubenville rape case and the murders of Matthew Shepard, Jennifer Daugherty, Marcelo Lucero, and Trayvon Martin. Most Americans see such acts as driven by hate. But is this right? Longtime activists and political theorists Kay Whitlock and Michael Bronski boldly assert that American society's reliance on the framework of hate to explain these acts is wrongheaded, misleading, and ultimately harmful.
All too often Americans choose to believe that terrible cruelty is aberrant, caused primarily by "extremists" and misfits. The inevitable remedy of intensified government-based policing, increased surveillance, and harsher punishments has never worked and does not work now. Stand-your-ground laws; the US prison system; police harassment of people of color, women, and LGBT people; and the so-called war on terror demonstrate that the remedies themselves are forms of institutionalized violence.
Considering Hate challenges easy assumptions and failed solutions, arguing that "hate violence" reflects existing cultural norms. Drawing upon social science, philosophy, theology, film, and literature, the authors examine how hate and common, even ordinary, forms of individual and group violence are excused and normalized in popular culture and political discussion. This massive denial of brutal reality profoundly warps society's ideas about goodness and justice.
Whitlock and Bronski invite readers to radically reimagine the meaning and structures of justice within a new framework of community wholeness, collective responsibility, and civic goodness.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Boston, MA
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 208 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
227 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8070-4295-3 (9780807042953)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Kay Whitlock | Michael Bronski
Considering Hate
Violence, Goodness, and Justice in American Culture and Politics
E-Book
01/2015
1st Edition
Beacon Press
€19.49
Available for download
Persons
Kay Whitlock, Michael Bronski
Content
Authors’ Note
Introduction
1. Dehumanization and Violence
2. Hate in the Public Imagination
3. Boundaries, Borders, and Psychic Shadows of Hate
4. Collective Responsibility and Moral Disengagement
5. Goodness in the Public Imagination
For Further Exploration: Books, Films, and Community Resources
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Introduction
1. Dehumanization and Violence
2. Hate in the Public Imagination
3. Boundaries, Borders, and Psychic Shadows of Hate
4. Collective Responsibility and Moral Disengagement
5. Goodness in the Public Imagination
For Further Exploration: Books, Films, and Community Resources
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index