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Conference Announcement Theme: Religion, Hate and Offence in a Changing World Type: International Workshop Institution: School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University Location: Cardiff, Wales (United Kingdom) Date: 14.–15.12.2016 __________________________________________________ This workshop aims to bring together scholars working on the relationship between religion and free speech. This relationship is complex. On the one hand, it has been central to recent discussions of hate speech and offensive speech targeting religious believers, and especially members of religious minorities. For example, the current wave of Islamophobia across Europe, prompted by migratory pressure, an unstable Middle East, and the backlash from the recent terrorist attacks in France and Belgium, has brought the issue of hate speech directed at religious minorities back to the forefront of public debate in western liberal democracies. Furthermore, the tension between freedom of speech and blasphemy continues to elicit public and academic debate, as shown by the 2006 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and, more recently, by the Charlie Hebdo controversies and attack. On the other hand, religious believers sometimes defend their use of derogatory and extreme speech against members of other religious faiths, or people with a certain sexual orientation, as part of their religious freedom. Recent examples include Swedish Pastor Ake Green’s likening of homosexuals with ‘cancer’; Tunisian preacher Muhammad Hammami’s anti-semitic remarks; Belfast Pastor James McConnell’s description of Islam as ‘heathen’ and ‘satanic’; and American conservative Evangelical Christian TV evangelist Andrew Wommack’s claim that gay people are ‘not normal’. Religious believers, therefore, can be both victims and instigators of hate speech and offensive speech, and this renders an examination of the relationship between these kinds of speech and religion especially important. Programme Wednesday, 14 December 14:00-14:10 Welcome and opening remarks 14:10-15:40 Keynote lecture: Jocelyn Maclure (Université Laval) ‘The Regulation of Hateful and Hurtful Speech: Liberalism’s Uncomfortable Predicament’ 15:40-16:40 Jonathan Seglow (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Matteo Bonotti (Cardiff University) ‘What’s Harmful about Speech That Offends People because of Their Religion?’ 16:40-17:10 Tea and coffee break 17:10-18:10 Suzanne Whitten (Queen’s University Belfast) ‘A Recognition-Sensitive Phenomenology of Hate Speech’ 18:10-19:10 Cristiana Cianitto (University of Milan) ‘Regulating the Conflict between Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech: Building a New Perspective?’ Thursday, 15 December 9:30-10:30 Andrew Reid (University of Leicester) ‘Freedom of Expression and the Brexit Campaign’ 10:30-11:00 Tea and coffee break 11:00-12:00 Paul Billingham (Christ Church, University of Oxford) ‘State Speech as a Response to Hate Speech: Assessing “Transformative Liberalism”’ 12:00-13:00 Elizabeth Miller (University of Oxford) ‘Smiling Assassins – Hillsong Church, Offensive Speech, and Spiritual Warfare’ 13:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-15:00 Simon Thompson (University of the West of England) ‘Respect, Civility and Decency: On the Rules of Sociability in Public Spaces’ 15:00-15:30 Tea and coffee break 15:30-16:30 Maxime Lepoutre (University of Cambridge) ‘Hate Speech in Public Discourse: A Pessimistic Defence of Counterspeech’ 16:30-17:30 Erica Howard (Middlesex University) ‘Political Rhetoric, Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech against Religious Believers’ Registration is free but places are limited. In order to register, please contact Dr Matteo Bonotti ([email protected]) by 23 November 2016. Venue: School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University Room 1.28, Law Building Workshop website: http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/events/view/workshop-on-religion-hate-and-offence-in-a-changing-world/ Contact: Dr Matteo Bonotti School of Law and Politics Cardiff University Law Building Museum Avenue Cardiff, CF10 3AX United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)29 2068 8594 Email: [email protected] __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ __________________________________________________
