The Sociology of Hate Speech

»Hate speech reflects and reinforces underlying prejudices and structural inequalities, functioning as a mechanism to maintain existing power dynamics and social hierarchies,« observes Verinika Bajt in her article The Sociology of Hate Speech, published in the thematic section on hate speech in the latest issue of the journal Annales.

Veronika Bajt’s article argues that hate speech must be approached sociologically, as a practice that reflects and reinforces structural inequalities. Moving beyond narrow legal definitions, Bajt frames hate speech as a mechanism of social domination, enabled by power asymmetries that allow some groups to define others as inferior or threatening. Drawing on critical race theory, nationalism studies, the concept of criminalization of migration, and intersections with gender analysis, she identifies two central logics: boundary-making and the so-called myth of purity, which together explain the construction of both external “enemies” (e.g. migrants, racialized Others) and internal ones (gender “deviants,” dissenters). Hate speech thus operates as a discursive tool for policing boundaries and sustaining the myth of purity. It is not random or purely emotional but instrumental, embedded in the nation-state’s pursuit of homogeneity.

Bajt’s approach positions hate speech as both a mirror and a mechanism of structural power: it reveals social hierarchies and reproduces them by legitimizing exclusion. Thus, hate speech is a sociological phenomenon, not just a legal category. Understanding it demands an intersectional, multi-scalar lens connecting micro-level discriminatory communication with macro-level power structures.