Interdisciplinary Conference on Hate speech:
Definitions, Interpretations and Practices (IHDIP)
9 – 11 June 2017 at the University of Cyprus
Conference Language: English
Hate speech can be broadly defined as “degrading, threatening, harassing or stigmatizing speech which affects an individual’s or a group’s dignity, reputation and status in society by means of linguistic and visual effects that promote negative feelings, attitudes and perceptions based on characteristics such as ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity and age” (Norway’s equality and anti-discrimination Ombud 2015: 5). The aim of this conference is to stimulate dialogue across disciplines and perspectives and to consider different methods and tools when approaching hate speech and hate crime.
It is organized under the auspices of an EU DG Justice funded project on hate crime and hate speech (C.O.N.T.A.C.T, www.reportinghate.eu) and offers an opportunity to bring together researchers, teachers, trainers, NGOs and other relevant bodies interested in issues of definitions, interpretations and practices in relation to hate speech, targeting both theoretical and applied research, as well as experience from the field.
The conference will comprise three tracks, focusing on the main theme of Hate Speech:
Track 1: Legislation, legal discourses and legal practices focused on hate speech
Track 2: Performance of hate speech through direct, indirect or multimodal means in everyday conversation and in different discourse settings (e.g. politics, media, etc.), as well as online (e.g. social media, newspaper comments, etc.).
Track 3: Pedagogy and hate speech (practices and / or research focused on educating people about hate speech and strategies for tackling it)
In parallel, all participants will have the chance to participate in an NGO workshop, where awareness-raising activities for different target groups – such as young people, law enforcement agencies, competent authorities and media – will be discussed, with a particular focus on the use of non-formal education.
Keynote speakers include:
• Prof. Dimitris Christopoulos: President of the International Federation for Human Rights and Associate Professor of State and Legal Theory at Panteion University of Athens;
• Paul Iganski: Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Lancaster;
• Izabela Kisić: Executive Director of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and Associate in the C.O.N.T.A.C.T. project;
• Andreas Musolff: Professor of Intercultural Communication, University of East Anglia.
Call for Papers
We invite potential participants to send a 250-word abstract related to one of the three aforementioned tracks. Contributions can be in the form of individual scientific papers, panels or workshops. For panels and workshops, please give details of themes, convenors and participants, but note the individual participants will also be required to submit individual abstracts.
An anonymised version of your abstract, with your name and affiliation in a separate file should be sent to conferencecontact2017@ucy.ac.cy
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