Censorship Moments Reading Texts in the History of Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Censorship in varying forms has been part of human experience for 2,500 years and has proved to be a recurring presence for political thought, whether as active repression, a shaping context for expression, or as itself a subject for analysis and argument. From the death of Socrates to the present, attempts to silence thinkers and writers have provoked passionate and often penetrating responses that speak of their historical moment. Censorship Moments provides short, accessible and stimulating essays on a variety of these responses. Each chapter pairs a textual 'moment' of writing on censorship by a past writer with analysis by an expert current scholar. The book's main focus is the public political dimension of censorship and freedom of expression, in its relation to political authority and political thought, while also reflecting on the porous boundary to literature and other areas such as law and the media. Authors of the essays include Gregory Claeys, Stephen Ingle and Melissa Lane. Geoff Kemp is Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Auckland, New Zealand..

Featured in the April 2015 LAW Newsletter.
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Featured in the 4 May 2015 New Zealand Newsletter.
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