Communication 322: The History and Theory of Freedom of Expression
Freedom of Expression
Who may speak? What may they speak about? To whom and when? These questions are basic operating issues in every group. Notions about the proper bounds of communication come up in families, in groups of friends, in the workplace, in schools and libraries, within the government, inside the newsroom, on the stage and in art galleries, in computer newsgroups, in churches, temples, and mosques, on the street-- in every group and group situation. In different kinds of groups, boundaries are established by different processes and boundary violations carry different sanctions. We distinguish two kinds of sanctions. One kind is informal and unofficial. A group member who violates expressive boundaries risks social ostracism. Sometimes a group member who violates expressive boundaries is formally expelled from the group. In the clearest exercise of formal sanctions, violators of expressive boundaries may be imprisoned or otherwise penalized by the state.
By tradition, Americans are said to prize expressive variety as the sign of a healthy group whose members are open to change and willing for different points of view to compete on the merits. This means that group members prefer to use informal penalties to evaluate expression and negotiate expressive limits. But all groups have limits beyond which they do not permit members to go, and all groups have moral and intellectual arguments for defending the limits they construct.
The organization of expressive boundaries by the state will interest us most in this course. This is because only the state may legitimately use force against persons to impose expressive sanctions. Where are these boundaries, and how are they justified? What boundaries are in contention, and what arguments are being advanced to sort them out?
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