[FoME] MeCoDEM Working Paper | Hate Speech in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa

[Ines Drefs]

MECODEM WORKING PAPER:  

HATE SPEECH (Charlotte Elliott, Wallace Chuma, Yosra El Gendi, Davor Marko, Alisha Patel) 

This working paper from the MeCoDEM series is now available for download at: http://www.mecodem.eu/publications/working-papers 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
This paper explores the concept of hate speech, both theoretically and within the context of the MeCoDEM project's four country case studies: Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa. Instead of seeking to provide an objective definition of hate speech, the paper's empirical approach highlights that context matters. More specifically, analysis of the political and socio-economic context in which the speech act occurs and consideration of the nature of the speaker and audience - including their impact and transmission - allows for a nuanced and informed approach to evaluate hate speech, and how this impacts democratisation processes. 

The paper presents: 

     * A general discussion of freedom of speech and its relationship with hate speech;

     * A brief discussion on the definitions of hate speech and international legislation;

     * A short discussion of hate speech in the four country contexts of the MeCoDEM project: Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa.

ABOUT MECODEM: 
MeCoDEM began on 1 February 2014 and will run over three years. The project investigates the interplay of communication and democratisation conflicts in four countries, Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa, each of them representing unique aspects of transitional / post-transitional divisions. Based on a comparative case study design, the research covers constitutional conflicts, civic conflicts and conflicts surrounding accountability and good governance. These conflicts constitute arenas of dispute where the media interact with the communicative strategies of governments on the one hand, and political activists and political movements struggling for recognition on the other. MeCoDEM is funded by the European Union within the EU's Seventh Framework Programme. With a budget of 2.2 million Euros, the project consortium includes eight partner institutions from six countries: University of Leeds (coordinating institution), University of Belgrade, University of Hamburg, University of Cape Town, University of Oxford, Stockholm University, Ruhr University Bochum and American University in Cairo. 

MECODEM CONTACT: 
Prof Barbara Thomass | Barbara.Thomass at rub.de 
Website: www.mecodem.eu | Twitter:@MeCoDEM