Racism and ‘Free Speech’

AvAnshuman A. Mondal

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

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Beskrivning

‘Free speech’ has become central to discussions about racism, and is increasingly weaponised against anti-racist movements. This book argues that the weaponization of ‘free speech’ across the political spectrum, particularly by the far-right/alt-right, has been central to the resurgence, rehabilitation and normalisation of racism within the mainstream politics of western liberal democracies in the last decade. The dilemma then, for anti-racist movements, is how to respond to such a challenge — for if ‘free speech’ allows racism, then it follows that the elimination of racism is not possible.Anshuman A. Mondal argues that liberalism has made it look as if there is something called ‘free speech’ when, in fact, speech is enabled by the structures of power within which we are all embedded. These structures determine who gets to say what, and whose voices are heard. They create and sustain racism, and anti-racism should look beyond the mythology of ‘free speech’ and focus instead on creating expressive regimes that foster racial and social justice by reshaping social discourse and transforming racialized structures of power.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2025-01-23
Mått:156 x 234 x undefined mm
Vikt:374 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:264
Förlag:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:9781350470521

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Mer om författaren

Anshuman A. Mondal is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of East Anglia. His research focusses on the construction of modern social and political identities, and the cultural politics attendant upon them. His books include Nationalism and Post-colonial Identity: Culture and Ideology in India and Egypt (2003), Amitav Ghosh (2007), and Young British Muslim Voices (2008). Since 2008, he has published extensively on the politics of ‘free speech’ and is the author of Islam and Controversy: The Politics of Free Speech after Rushdie (2014).

Recensioner i media

Mondal’s book, [is] an extremely valuable and timely contribution to understanding and avoiding 'free speech traps' in contemporary debates on college campuses and beyond. Recommended. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Innehållsförteckning

Acknowledgements Preface A note on form and structure1 What can you say? 2 Are you kidding me? 3 What the hell is going on? Part 1 OpeningPart 2 ‘Free Speech’The paradoxes of liberty The rhetorical foundations of liberalism The trope of infinite and perpetual openness On persuasion What do they know of freedom who only freedom know? The indistinction of liberty Freedom and foreclosure 4 On tolerance 5 Cancel culture Part 3 Anti-/RacismSpeech/silence/ing Speech and silence: an anti-racist dialectic Racism is/not …How racism does its thing Racism is what racism does What did you say? Whiteness and the transcendental imagination Racism’s gothic imaginaryWhy anti-racists don’t need ‘free speech’ Empowerment, not ‘freedom’ 6 Coconuts 7 On statues, memorials and monuments 8 The paradox of (counter-)hegemony … Part 4 ShapesA one-dimensional freedom Discursive liquidity: the shaping of discourse 9 The case against no platforming is not an open and shut one 10 Safe spaces 11 On harassment and bullying 12 Paul Gilroy in Finsbury Park Part 5 ClosingSome final thoughts on liberalism and anti-racism References Index