Degradation
Subtitle: what the history of obscenity tells us about hate speech
By: Kevin Saunders
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 243
ISBN-13: 9780814741443; 9780814741450
Description: "In this original study of the relationship between obscenity and hate speech, First Amendment specialist Kevin W. Saunders traces the legal trajectory of degradation as it moved from sexual depiction to hateful speech. Looking closely at hate speech in several arenas, including racist, homophobic, and sexist speech in the workplace, classroom, and other real-life scenarios, Saunders posits that if hate speech is today's conceptual equivalent of obscenity, then the body of law that dictated obscenity might shed some much-needed light on what may or may not qualify as punishable hate speech."--Book cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Pornography, life, and the gods in the Greek and Roman eras; title: The arrival of Christianity; title: The modern era; title: A look at other cultures; title: What about hate speech?; title: Using obscenity doctrine to address hate speech; title: Applications; title: Variable obscenity, children and hate.