Crimes Against the “Other”: Conceptual, Operational, and Empirical Challenges for Hate Studies

In much the same way that expressions of hate pose problems that cut across disciplines, across communities, and across borders, so too must responses be informed through international, intersectional, and interdisciplinary perspectives that serve to widen our understanding. Hate crime remains a contested and highly complex area of study and policy, and the deeper we delve to find solutions and answers, the more likely we are to stumble across further problems and questions. Identifying how best to resolve them is a difficult, ongoing task, but one that should form the basis of any progressive dialogue among hate crime scholars, policy makers, and practitioners. The nature of these problems and questions–and more importantly, the ways in which we can use them to shape contemporary hate crime discourse–is what this article seeks to explore.