Ep. 88: The Mythical Bygone Glory Days of "Free Speech"
Added 2019-09-25 15:07:42 +0000 UTCWe are often warned by conservatives, liberals and even some on the Left that we live in a time where “free speech” is under threat from far-left forces. “Political correctness” and “snowflakes” have shut down free inquiry, specifically on college campuses, and led to a crisis threatening the very foundation of our democracy.
But the origins of the label “free speech” — as it’s currently practiced — paint a much messier picture. Rather than appealing to the Vietnam-era Berkeley protest glory days, what one sees when examining the history of the concept is a temporary tactic used by the Left in the mid-to-late 1960s that has, since that late 1980s, become a far-right wedge designed to open up space for racism, eugenics, genocide denial, trans and homophobia and anti-feminist backlash. Defense of the right to keep open this space as an appeal to a universal value hides a well-funded, coordinated far-right attempt to maintain a conservative, largely male and cishet version of political correctness.
On this episode, we discuss where the contemporary concept of “free speech” comes from, what its uses and misuses have been and how a rose-tinted time of pristine, perfectly "free" speech never really existed.
We are joined by journalist and author P.E. Moskowitz and Chair of Princeton University's Department of Anthropology Carolyn Rouse.
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Guests
P.E. Moskowitz is a journalist and co-founder of the media collective Study Hall. They are the author of the books How To Kill A City and The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent, the latter of which was recently published by Bold Type Books.
Carolyn Rouse is a professor, filmmaker and chair of the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. She is the author of a number of books, most recently Televised Redemption: Black Religious Media and Racial Empowerment.
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Show Notes
The myth of the free speech crisis
Nesrine Malik | September 3, 2019 | The Guardian
Meet The Professor Making An Argument For Snowflakes
Jessica Testa | September 28, 2017 | BuzzFeed News
Trump's Free-Speech Executive Order and the Right’s Fixation on Campus Politics
Osita Nwanevu | March 2, 2019 | The New Yorker
Patricia McGuire | March 27, 2019 | Inside Higher Ed
Trump’s Redundant Executive Order on Campus Speech
Adam Harris | March 22, 2019 | The Atlantic
Political correctness: how the right invented a phantom enemy
Moira Weigel | November 30, 2016 | The Guardian
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
Recent episode of NBC drama had a free speech/ hate speech Watch Fire in a Crowded Theater from Bluff City Law on NBC.com https://nbc.app.link/?campaign=Evergreen_Video_Details&channel=dotcom&~feature=marketing&mParticle%20ID%3A%20Device=-7363785020559713201&mParticle%20ID=Anonymous&Canonical%20URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc.com%2Fbluff-city-law%2Fvideo%2Ffire-in-a-crowded-theater%2F4048717&%24ios_deeplink_path=video%2F4048717&%24android_deeplink_path=video%2F4048717&%24desktop_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc.com%2Fbluff-city-law%2Fvideo%2Ffire-in-a-crowded-theater%2F4048717
2019-10-16 15:14:24 +0000 UTCMany of the "free speech" advocates who criticize activists who use direct action to shut down racists & fascists never mention that, preceding the disruption, activists have civilly & reasonably urged institutions to address assaults on minority employees & students, & those institutions have long done nothing.
2019-10-13 19:10:40 +0000 UTCThat's definitely a critical part of understanding Gamergate and the gamer. It was the original manifestation of gaming as a political identity.
Joseph Yamine
2019-09-28 21:34:30 +0000 UTCDisappointing discussion. A lot of dismissive strawman deflection, rather than meaningful engagement, vis-a-vis "the principle" of free speech.
2019-09-26 01:12:09 +0000 UTCGreat episode and great guests. I'd certainly be interested in reading P.E. Moskowitz's book on free speech. Overall, wonderful take-down of right- wingers' putative love of free speech. My own view is that those who moan about 'political correctness' tend also to be the most easily offended people around. Don't get me started on the invocation of 'freedom' among those who pretty much despise the freedoms of others. That's another day's work!
Ciaran Colley
2019-09-25 19:35:54 +0000 UTCOne of the interesting aspects of the propagandization of "free speech" was its use in late 90's to mid-00's video game journalism (for lack of a better term). This might have started in the early 90's, but "free speech" was used by the game industry to galvanize young people into oppose "censorship" they feared would interfere with their ability to publish or sell software. Pretty simple psychological trick: "They'll take your favorite thing and tell you it's for your own good. Don't let them!" with cascading effects. With some research I think this could be the rhetorical base of GamerGate, and is closely related to primordial version of "gamer" as an identity.
Ted Roland
2019-09-25 17:00:45 +0000 UTC
