Understanding Disability and Everyday Hate

“This is a necessary and utterly compelling book which shines a light on disabled people's experiences of 'everyday hate'. Rich in theoretical insight, methodological innovation and candid reflection, it places victims' lived realities front and centre of its analysis. In so doing, the book uncovers difficult truths and enables its readers to understand the nature and impacts of hostile behaviour from a seldom heard vantage point”
- Professor Neil Chakraborti, School of Criminology, University of Leicester, UK
This book examines disability hate crime. It focusses on key questions concerning the ways in which hate is understood and experienced within the context of the everyday, in addition to the unique ways that hate can hurt and be resisted. It introduces readers to questions surrounding the conceptual framework of hate and policy context in England and Wales, and extends these discussions to center upon the experiences of disabled people. It presents a conceptual reconsideration of hate crime that connects hate, disability and everyday lives and spaces using an affective (embodied and emotional) understanding of these experiences. Drawing on empirical data, this framework helps to attend to the diverse ways that disabled people negotiate, respond to, and resist hate within the context of their everyday lives. The book argues that the affective capacity of disabled people can be enhanced through their reflections upon hateful experiences and general experiences of navigating a disabling social world. By working with the concept of ‘affective possibility’, this book offers a more affirmative approach to harnessing the everyday forms of resistance already present within disabled people’s lives. It speaks to academics, students, and practitioners interested in disability, affect studies, hate crime studies, sociology, and criminology.

Leah Burch is a lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, UK, in the School of Social Sciences.She is also Professional Tutor teaching on the Health and Social Care BA Hons. As part of this role, she leads a series of Advanced Research Seminars on hate crime and is part of the British Society of Criminology Hate Crime Steering Committee. Her PhD was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. During this project, she worked with disabled people to explore their meanings and experiences of everyday hate.