Violence directed at victimized groups because of their real or imagined characteristics is as old as humankind. Why, then, have -hate crimes- only recently become recog-nized as a serious social problem, especially in the United States? This book addresses a timely set of questions about the politics and dynamics of intergroup violence manifested as discrimination. It explores such issues as why injuries against some groups of people--Jews, people of color, gays and lesbians, and, on occasion, women and those with dis-abilities--have increasingly captured notice, while similar acts of bias-motivated violence continue to go unnoticed.
The authors offer empirically grounded, theoretically in-formed answers to the question: How is social change on this order possible? Their analysis of the dynamics draws upon three established traditions: the social constructionist approach; new social movements theory; and the new institutionalist approach to understanding change as a process of innovation and diffusion of cultural forms. In this case, new social movements have converged of late to sustain public discussions that put into question issues of -rights- and -harm- as they relate to a variety of minority constituencies.
The authors couple their general discussion with close attention to many particular anti-violence projects. They thereby develop a compelling theoretical argument about the social processes through which new social problems emerge, social policy is developed and diffused, and new cultural forms are institutionalized.
- ISBN13 9780202306018
- Publish Date 30 December 1997 (first published 14 October 1997)
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 21 October 2013
- Publish Country DE
- Publisher De Gruyter
- Imprint Walter de Gruyter & Co
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 226
- Language English