Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Freedom of Expression, edited by Alicia Cafferty Lerner and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. 205 p. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2009. ISBN 13: 978-0-7377-4154-4. $36.20.

American citizens often take their first amendment rights to free speech for granted; high school students occasionally butt against its limits in cases involving school newspapers, but like the broader population, they have little understanding or experience of how this fundamental right shapes the powers of a populace over its own government. This collection of essays, part of Greenhaven’s Global Viewpoints series, offers cases around the world in which citizens’ freedom of expression is restricted. Four chapters explore restrictions to freedom of the press, artistic expression, internet access and political expression. Perspectives are offered from countries around the world, including China, Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Iran, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, as well as the U.S. and countries in Eastern and Western Europe. Collectively, the selections raise the fundamental questions about free speech that all countries grapple with: what is the role of free speech in promoting a democratic society? Where is the line between the need for free speech and the need for the government to protect its citizens from harm? Should all speech, including hate speech, be protected as a fundamental right? Students will be interested in Thailand’s efforts to block YouTube, which ultimately drew more negative attention to its monarchy than a critical video posted on the site ever would have had the government not blocked the site at all. They may also be drawn into debate about several European countries’ desire to block bomb-making sites on the Web. Comparisons of other countries’ struggles with freedom of expression can ultimately help students better understand the current and historical positions taken in the United States. As with other volumes in this series, guided reading questions follow an introduction to each article and each chapter concludes with a short periodical bibliography. Chapter discussion questions, a list of relevant organizations, a longer print bibliography and a general index are included. This volume can be used by teachers of world and U.S. history as an extension or introduction to the concept of free speech and can be used as a starting point in student research. Highly recommended for high school libraries.