Beyond the Hate Frame: When Systemic Violence Masquerades as Hate and Extremism
From the candidates in 2022 races carrying the mantle of the Far Right to the treatment of anti-LGBTQ persecution as “phobia,” join PRA Research Analysts Ben Lorber, Habiba Farh, and Heron Greenesmith as they name and explore the language and policies that obscure purposeful and concerted programs of social order maintenance. In this conversation, they will answer the questions: “How does the designation of “hate”–i.e. hate crimes, hate groups–and “extremism” or “fanaticism” perpetuate hegemonic oppression? And who benefits from this design?”
For security purposes, the recording of this webinar will be released in early 2023. The transcript for this webinar is available here.
For this roundtable discussion, we were joined by:
Ben Lorber: Ben Lorber works as a Research Analyst at PRA, focusing on white nationalism and antisemitism. Lorber has worked as a journalist, organizer and movement-builder for over a decade. Lorber has published on right-wing social movements, Israel/Palestine, Jewish culture and other topics at The Nation, Salon, The Jewish Daily Forward and more. He tweets at @BenLorber8.
Habiba Farh: Habiba Farh is a research analyst at Political Research Associates monitoring legislation and discourses addressing hate crimes, terrorism, and extremism. She joined PRA with nearly a decade of experience working with researchers, journalists, activists, and movement partners to address mass incarceration, surveillance, structural violence. Habiba has written on intergenerational political repression on historically marginalized communities in the U.S., Arab-American diasporic politics, U.S. foreign policy on the Middle East, and islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry in American policy and law.
Heron Greenesmith: Heron Greenesmith, Esq. is a policy attorney with over a decade of LGBTQ advocacy experience. Currently monitoring anti-LGBTQ advocacy, movements, and leaders with PRA, Heron is also an adjunct Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law, an Antibigotry Fellow with the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, and an Editorial Board Member at the Bulletin of Applied Trans Studies. Heron has written extensively on the disparities facing bisexual and pansexual people and how to remedy them through public policy advocacy.