Excitable Speech

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In "Excitable Speech," Judith Butler analyzes recent passionate debates surrounding verbal violence directed at minorities, pornography, and the prohibition against openly gay members of the U.S. military. She aims to demonstrate the dangers of allowing the state to define what is sayable and unsayable. Engaging in critical dialogue with figures such as J.L. Austin, the founder of performative speech theory, as well as Sigmund Freud, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Jacques Derrida, and Catharine MacKinnon, Butler explores the ambivalence of verbal violence, including hate speech and homophobic, sexist, or racist discourse. While such speech can harm those it targets, it can also be subverted, potentially opening up spaces for political struggle and identity transformation.