Kate Barber
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katebarber.bsky.social
Kate Barber
@katebarber.bsky.social
Lecturer in Criminal Law @UniRDG_Law. Research interests: forensic linguistics, sexual violence/offences, online extremism and hate speech
Really looking forward to reading Emily Powell's (@empowell.bsky.social) important new paper in Applied Corpus Linguistics. She examines how perpetrators of mass harm actively construct future attackers as an audience in their manifestos. Details here 👇

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Addressing imagined future attackers: A corpus analysis of shared agency in the online manifestos of perpetrators of mass harm
The manifestos that frequently accompany mass shootings are usually freely available online within minutes of an attack taking place and remain so for…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
⭐ Publication day! ⭐
New paper exploring what corpus linguistics can offer in terms of combating online fraud groups and activities. In a special issue of Applied Corpus Linguistics - Corpus Linguistic Approaches to Tackling Online Crime.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ac...
Redirecting
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Hate Crime is an Acute Problem in England & Wales Yet There's Still no National Plan to Tackle It. I’ve Joined Others Across Academia/ Civil Society Calling on the Government to Act Now and Deliver a New Hate Crime Action Plan. Read the Open Letter Here: tinyurl.com/kx89yxuv
tinyurl.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Based on definitions others have offered and a review of works commonly held to belong to the field, I propose that "forensic linguistics" is best described as "that set of linguistic studies which either examine legal data or examine data for explicitly legal purposes." 2/5
October 6, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Out now (and open access!) in the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law: "What We Talk About When We Talk About Forensic Linguistics"

This article is my attempt to get a handle on the perennial problem of describing forensic linguistics as a coherent field. 1/5

rdcu.be/eJoJP
What We Talk About When We Talk About Forensic Linguistics
rdcu.be
October 6, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Was very happy to be invited on BBC Word of Mouth to discuss my research on the manosphere and language. If you missed the live broadcast on Sunday, it's available wherever you get your podcasts. pca.st/episode/5ce9...
The Language of the Manosphere
pca.st
September 22, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Thought provoking article by @katebarber.bsky.social about legal cynicism in Men's Rights discourses. Well worth a read if you are researching/interested in the neutralisation of past and future harm.
Legal cynicism in Men’s Rights discourses: Using corpus linguistics to investigate how distrust in the legal system excuses and perpetuates sexual violence against women
The term legal cynicism refers to a type of legal disengagement which is associated with a lack of internal commitment to follow legal rules and a fai…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
@katebarber.bsky.social has studied legitimization through hyperlinks in blog posts.
🟦Data is taken from 5 blogs dealing with s€xuAl violence.
🔷Links are classified as different types of anchor text.
🔵Technological affordances are evidential resources
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
🤓Interested in how #affordances mediate discourse?

📚Most of our articles explore that.

🔎In this thread we highlight some of the articles that have analysed the role of #hyperlinks in different kind of outlets.

More ⏬⏬
September 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Corpus linguistics for safeguarding children online

🔓 Out now with @crkennedy.bsky.social as part of a special issue on Corpus linguistic approaches to tackling online crime edited by the brilliant @wrightdw.bsky.social

@livunienglish.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Corpus linguistics for safeguarding children online
Safeguarding children in schools broadly refers to the actions taken to protect children from abuse, prevent damage to health and development, and pro…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 2, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
🚨 New article in The Conversation from Callum Jones and myself.

We wanted to focus specifically on how the white nationalist rallies were supported and amplified online by far-right actors like Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson

theconversation.com/how-australi...
How Australia’s anti-immigration rallies were amplified online by the global far right
Prominent figures such as Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson are increasingly using social media to unite far-right groups and causes around the world.
theconversation.com
September 2, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
🚨New article published!
🟦 @katebarber.bsky.social explores hyperlinks in blog posts by extremist right-wing men.
🔷Drawing on positioning strategies, the legitimising function of anchor text is studied.
🔷Non-transparent anchor text perpetuates rape culture.
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
August 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
I have a rape case. Offence in April 2022. Reported within days. Charged Oct 2023. Trial listed July 2024. Put back to Oct 2024. No court available so put back to today. At court today, there's no court available AGAIN. FOURTH trial date now June 2026 - more than four years after the incident!!
August 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
My monograph 'Male Separatism: Discourse, Ideology, Argumentation' is now available for purchase as an ebook with John Benjamins, though you will need to pre-order for a physical copy.

benjamins.com/catalog/daps...
Male Separatism
This book offers a critical discourse analytical perspective on the phenomenon of men who voluntarily abstain from relationships with women. It contributes to the growing body of literature on the man...
benjamins.com
January 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
The Women and Equalities Select Committee @commonswec.parliament.uk has accepted our team's evidence as part of it's public enquiry into 'Misogyny: the manosphere and online content'

Read our submission below

committees.parliament.uk/work/9089/mi...
Misogyny: the manosphere and online content - Written evidence - Committees - UK Parliament
Written evidence submission publications for Misogyny: the manosphere and online content.
committees.parliament.uk
July 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Hugely admiring of the Law Commission. This important and detailed report (621 pages no less) has landed on my desk and unlike Pam Bondi's desk, it won't then disappear, so I am going to have to read it before re-writing my October lectures! lawcom.gov.uk/publication/...
Evidence in sexual offences prosecutions: a final report – Law Commission
Reforming the law
lawcom.gov.uk
July 22, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Really Excited to Discuss My New Book 'The World White Web' at This Year's Author Meets Critic Session at the British Society of Criminology Conference With the LEGEND that is #NeilChakraborti and also Present My Recent Work on #AI and #Southport. Buzzing to Catch Up With Friends/Colleagues 😍😍
June 24, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
Fantastic Presentation from #KateBarber on Men's Rights Activists, Kate Outlines 4 Strategies to Disrupt the Legal Socialisation Process in MRA Discourse 1) Pre-Bunking Strategies 2) Legal Education 3) Legal Transparency 4) Acknowledgement of Grievances
June 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Cannot wait to read this! Out today, from the brilliant @empowell.bsky.social.

www.routledge.com/The-Language...
May 30, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
📢We have another exciting CIRAF online seminar coming up this month!

'The 2024 Riots, the Far Right, and Racism'
with Aaron Winter and Chris Allen

19th March, 4pm-5:30pm

✏️Register now to receive the Zoom link for the session.

See you there!
www.eventbrite.com/e/the-2024-r...
The 2024 riots, the far right and racism
CIRAF seminar with Chris Allen and Aaron Winter
www.eventbrite.com
March 3, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
I have a new short piece out with Opinio Juris on US sanctions and the ICC which explores possible implications for the court's use of AI, digital evidence and wider investigation processes - tinyurl.com/mryjbdbe
Artificial Sanctions: Potential Implications of US Sanctions on the ICC’s use of AI and Digital Evidence
[Benjamin Thorne is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Criminal Law at the University of Reading] Almost 3 weeks into Donald Trump’s second term as US President and one could have been forgiven fo…
tinyurl.com
February 25, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Kate Barber
New short article with Sarah Banet-Weiser, about the digital mirror-world, and how it is populated by strange doppelgangers of feminism

'Through the looking glass: feminism and reactionary politics in the digital hall of mirrors'

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
February 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM