What is Hate Speech? Part 2: Family Resemblances

The issue of hate speech has received significant attention from legal scholars and philosophers alike. But the vast majority of this attention has been focused on presenting and critically evaluating arguments for and against hate speech bans as opposed to the prior task of conceptually analysing the term ‘hate speech’ itself. This two-part article aims to put right that imbalance. It goes beyond legal texts and judgements and beyond the legal concept hate speech in an attempt to understand the general concept hate speech. And it does so using a range of well-known methods of conceptual analysis that are distinctive of analytic philosophy. One of its main aims is to explode the myth that emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred are part of the essential nature of hate speech. It also argues that hate speech is best conceived as a family resemblances concept. One important implication is that when looking at the full range of ways of combating hate speech, including but not limited to the use of criminal law, there is every reason to embrace an understanding of hate speech as a heterogeneous collection of expressive phenomena. Another is that it would be unsound to reject hate speech laws on the premise that they are effectively in the business of criminalising emotions, feelings, or attitudes of hate or hatred.     

‘Mastaans’ and the Market for Social Protection Exploring Mafia Groups in Dhaka,Bangladesh

This paper presents a study of mafia groups in Bangladesh. Drawing on the views and experiences of 22 street children, 80 interviews with criminal justice practitioners, NGO workers and community members and over 3 years of participant observation of the criminal justice system, the paper considers the ‘mastaans’: Bangladeshi mafia groups. The article draws on both theories of protection and behaviour to develop a social protection theory of the mafia. The article considers the social networks of mastaan groups, their prevalence, where they operate, divisions of labour, the crimes that they commit and the associations that they have with politicians and the police. The paper demonstrates that mastaans work in alliance with corrupt members of the state and they provide access to services, resolve disputes, commit extortion and carry out a wide array of criminal activity, much of which relies on their monopolisation of violence to protect their illegal industries. The paper demonstrates—for the first time—that mafias operate in Bangladesh and draws on data gathered from both adults and children, the implications of which are discussed.     

Detecting illegal activities: the case of cartels

This paper considers enhancements of a comparatively new method to detect cartels, the System of Cartel Markers (SCM), introduced by Blanckenburg and Geist (Int Adv Econ Res 15(4):421–436, 2009). The aim of SCM is to find illegal collusion on legal markets with observable market data. It uses expected behavior patterns such as low level of capacity utilization, slackness of price adjustments to exogenous shocks, excess rates of return, nearly constant capacities, less price changes and lower variance of capacity growth rate. However, the testing of cost efficiency is lacking so far. Following Leibenstein’s (Am Econ Rev 56:392–415, 1966) X-inefficiency theory, we assume that cartel members face lower competition and hence, tend to be less cost efficient. Therefore, we enhance SCM and use cost efficiency as a further marker in order to detect cartels. We apply SCM to the German cement cartel and find empirical support for some markers. The proposed methodology may be used for antitrust screening and regulatory purposes.     

Native American Identity and the Limits of Cultural Defence

This article concerns itself with the phenomenon of the cultural defence as it exhibits itself in the US juridical context. Recent socio-legal discussions about this phenomenon reveal three prevalent positions: the illegality of cultural defence on constitutional grounds, the necessity of cultural defence as a matter of discretionary justice, and the intermediary position of working cultural defence into a legal doctrine. By problematizing the operative concept of culture, the author suggests that the idea of cultural defence should be understood in terms of foreignness. This suggestion is supported on the basis of the phenomenological theory of the alien (xenology). In order to illustrate the juridical limits of the cultural defence I examine the history of constructing the Native American as a cultural legal subject. Hence the question that primes this examination: is there a possibility of the traditional cultural defence for the American Indians? After a provisional answer that there is no such possibility, I conclude with the discussion of hospitality as a way to an ethically necessary and legally acceptable idea of culture.     

“Rediscovery”, “Reinvigoration” and “Redefinition” in Perpetuity: Australian Engagement with India 1983–2011

For the past twenty‐five years Australia's bilateral relationship with India has been typified by an ongoing process of “rediscovery”, irrespective of whether Labor or Liberal administrations have steered foreign policy. This article explores the reasons why this might be the case by analysing Australia's foreign policy approaches to India spanning the period 1983 to 2011. It interrogates various Labor and Liberal strategies that have been mobilised to “reinvigorate” the relationship and searches for reasons why they have only been partially successful in strengthening Australia's rapport with India. The authors draw upon discussions with strategic affairs editors of India's major daily newspapers and current affairs journals to gain insights into Indian impressions of Australia from a political and foreign policy perspective.     

Intensive supervision programs: Does program philosophy and the principles of effective intervention matter?

Although traditional intensive supervision programs that have aimed at increasing control and surveillance in the community have not been shown to reduce recidivism, prior research indicates that intensive supervision programs that are based on a human service philosophy and provide treatment to offenders offer more promise. The current research examined the effectiveness of fifty-eight intensive supervision programs and sought to determine whether program philosophy and treatment integrity are associated with reductions in recidivism. The results indicated that both program philosophy and treatment integrity vary independently of one another and are related to the ability of programs to produce meaningful effects on recidivism.     

Snitching,Lies and Computer Crashes: An Experimental Investigation of Secondary Confessions

Two laboratory studies with 332 student participants investigated secondary confessions (provided by an informant instead of the suspect). Participants allegedly caused or witnessed a simulated computer crash, then were asked to give primary or secondary confessions during interrogation. Study 1 replicated the false evidence effect for primary confessions. Secondary confessions were obtained at a high rate, which was increased by false evidence in combination with incentive to confess. In Study 2 a confederate either confessed to or denied crashing the computer. Incentive increased the rate of secondary confession only in the presence of a denial; that is, incentive increased the number of false secondary confessions only. Implications for the use of incentives during informant interrogation are discussed.     

Die Europäische Bürgerinitiative – Gefährdung der Glaubwürdigkeit eines direktdemokratischen Instruments?

Mit Art 11 Abs 4 EUV idF des Vertrages von Lissabon wurde das Institut einer "Europäischen Bürgerinitiative" (EBI) vorgesehen. In dessen Ausführung hat die EU-Kommission Anfang Juni dieses Jahres den Entwurf einer Verordnung vorgelegt, der gegenwärtig im Europäischen Parlament beraten wird. Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich kritisch mit rechtlichen und operationalen Aspekten dieses Verordnungsentwurfes.