Freedom of Expression and Human Rights: Historical, Literary and Political Contexts

Freedom of Expression and Human Rights provides a critical and contentious overview of the fundamental relationship between writing and political dissent from early Greek democracy to post-Enlightenment forms of totalitarianism-such as Communism, Fascism, and Nazism-and through to modern forms of liberal democracy based upon universal human rights encapsulated by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Complementing such historical contexts, this book explores the range of predominantly theological and religious, civil and political, social and cultural rationales for contemporary repression, contending that in the modern age, at least freedom of expression issues are deeply affected not only by national law but by factors of a trans-national (ideological or theological) nature. Finally, through a review of key inter-governmental and non-governmental (NGO) agencies, the book examines current geo-political trends in the denial of freedom of expression, highlighting post-Cold War and post-September 11 shifts in political and religious repression, a movement in the locale of freedom of expression issues (especially towards electronic forms and Internet) and a heightening of global and trans-national dimensions in freedom of expression.