Just Words: On Speech and Hidden Harm (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780198829706)

We all know that speech can be harmful. But what are the harms and how exactly does the speech in question brings those harms 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: 0198829701
ISBN-13: 9780198829706
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 04/14/2019
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.60w x 0.60d