Book reception: "Media and Global Civil Society" and "The Content and Context of Hate Speech"

The Center for Media and Communication Studies at CEU cordially invites you to a reception to celebrate the release of two publications by CMCS Fellows:

MEDIA AND GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY by Lina Dencik

and

THE CONTENT AND CONTEXT OF HATE SPEECH: RETHINKING REGULATION AND RESPONSES eds: Michael Herz & Peter Molnar

Date: Friday, May 11, 4pm - 5pm
 Location: Japanese Garden,* Faculty Tower, Central European University, Nádor u. 11

Introductions by:

• Kate Coyer (Director at the Center for Media and Communications Studies) 
• Renata Uitz (Professor and Chair of the Comparative Constitutional Law Program at the Legal Studies Department)

Refreshments will be served.

*In case of rain, please join us in the Gellner Room, Monument Building.

About the books:

Media and Global Civil Society by Lina Dencik

Much analysis and hope in both academia and political rhetoric currently rests on ideas of deliberation and post-national democratic practices – the roots of a 'global civil society'. This has taken force as not just an analysis of social and political change, but as a normative project. Dencik argues that counter to much discussion, the very notion of a global civil society needs to be subjected to rigorous critique, given so much of the debate is based on an implicit (and problematic) account of changing conditions, not least within the media. Bridging the gap between different literatures across disciplines and presenting new empirical data on key sites of news production, the book provides a fresh and critical approach to the topical debate on media, globalization and social and political change. (Palgrave Macmillan 2012 )

The Content and Context of Hate Speech: eds Michael Herz & Peter Molnar

The contributors to this volume consider whether it is possible to establish carefully tailored policies for "hate speech" that are cognizant of the varying traditions, histories, and values of different counties. Throughout, there is a strong comparative emphasis, with examples, and authors, drawn from around the world. A recurrent question is whether or when different cultural and historical settings can justify different substantive rules without making cultural relativism an easy excuse for content-based restrictions that would gravely endanger freedom of expression.

Essays address the following questions, among others: Is "hate speech" in fact so dangerous and harmful, particularly to vulnerable minorities or communities, as to justify restricting freedom of speech? What harms and benefits accrue from laws that criminalize "hate speech" in particular contexts? Are there circumstances in which everyone would agree that "hate speech" should be criminally punished? Is incitement that leads to imminent danger a more reliable concept for defining restrictions than "hate speech"? Does the decision whether to restrict "hate speech" necessarily entail choosing between liberty and equality? What lessons can be learned from international law? With contributions from: Anthony Appiah, Ronald Dworkin, Miklos Haraszti, Stephen Holmes, Robert Post, Monroe Price, Andrei Richter, Nadine Strossen, Jeremy Waldron, among others    (Cambridge University Press 2012)

About the Fellows:

Lina Dencik
Research Fellow at the Center for Media and Communications Studies

Lina completed her PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London and has taught Media and Communications at several universities in the UK. This fall, she joins the faculty at the School for Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, UK.

Peter Molnar
Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Media and Communication Studies

Peter is a writer and activist. As former member of the Hungarian Parliament (1990-1998) he was one of the principal drafters of the 1996 Hungarian media law, was member of the Hungarian Radio-Television Board`s Complaint Commission (2001-2010), German Marshall Fellow, two times Fulbright Fellow and Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University, has been legislative advisor since 2002, has taught and lectured at numerous universities around the world since 1994. In 2006, he drafted the Budapest Declaration for the Freedom of the Internet that was signed by many media scholars. In 2007, the staged version of his novel, Searchers, won awards for best alternative play and best independent play in Hungary. His publications include "Towards Better Law and Policy Against "Hate Speech" - The 'clear and present danger' Test in Hungary", in Ivan Hare and James Weinstein (eds.) Extreme Speech and Democracy, 2009 (Oxford University Press).