Re-thinking hate crime: bringing theory and practice together

A one-day conference organised by the University of Bradford intended to provide a forum where activists and academics can share the current state of play, explore practice and theory and develop new methods of interrogating and safeguarding against hate. The outcomes of the conference will contribute to future research and practice agendas.

The conference will be of interest to:

• academics working and researching in the field of hate crime
• academics interested in developing conceptual frameworks for anti-discriminatory frameworks
• academics working in the field of criminal justice or social care
• practitioners in the field of health and social care and particularly developing a 'safeguarding' agenda
• practitioners responsible for strengthening community cohesion
• representatives of voluntary and statutory legal support agencies
• representatives of community activist forums
• equality and diversity professionals

The term 'hate crime' has become embedded in everyday language in the UK, as have ideas of radicalisation and community disturbance. In law it is possible to strengthen existing offences by adding the element of hate or inciting hate but there is no legal definition of hate crime. At the same time racism or sexism or homophobia have caused division in society and have been blamed for assault, battery and even murder. Policy initiatives have developed alongside criminal law, giving hate induced or influenced incidents a framework of enquiry. New single equality legislation in the UK names protected groups, but does not necessarily link to wider agendas of social exclusion and cohesion.

This conference will provide a forum for 'hate' to be interrogated in both a policy and a theoretical context, in order to identify links between key players in the theory and practice of embedding social cohesion and community safety into a research agenda and academic thought. The context has been developed through discussion between the schools of social and international studies, health and management at the University of Bradford and the Bradford LGB strategic partnership. The working committee includes a trustee for Stop Hate UK and members of the University equality unit. Links are developed with police, probation and community safety partnerships.