Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780192897398)

We all know that speech can be harmful. But what are these harms, and how exactly does the speech in question bring them about?

Mary Kate McGowan identifies a previously overlooked mechanism by which speech constitutes, rather than merely causes, harm. She argues that speech constitutes harm when it enacts a norm that prescribes that harm. McGowan illustrates this theory by considering many categories of speech including sexist remarks, racist hate speech, pornography, verbal triggers for stereotype threat, micro-aggressions, political dog whistles, slam poetry, and even the hanging of posters. Just Words explores a variety of harms--such as oppression, subordination, discrimination, domination, harassment, and marginalization--and ways in which these harms can be remedied.

Author: Mary Kate McGowan
ISBN-10: 019289739X
ISBN-13: 9780192897398
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 05/25/2021
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.60d