{"id":47986,"date":"2025-08-28T15:19:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47986"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:21:05","slug":"fara-dabhoiwala-what-is-free-speech-the-history-of-a-dangerous-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47986","title":{"rendered":"Fara Dabhoiwala, \u201eWhat Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>A leading intellectual historian shows how free speech, once viewed as both hazardous and unnatural, was reinvented as an unalloyed good, with enormous consequences for our society today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Every premodern society, from Sumeria to China to seventeenth\u2013century Europe, knew that bad words could destroy lives, undermine social order, and create political unrest. Given the obvious dangers of outspokenness, regulating speech and print was universally accepted as a necessary and proper activity of government. Only in the early 1700s did this old way begin to break down. In a brief span of time, the freedom to use words as one pleased was reimagined as an ideal to be held and defended in common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fara Dabhoiwala explores the surprising paths free speech has taken across the globe since its invention three hundred years ago. Though free speech has become a central democratic principle, its origins and evolution have less to do with the high-minded pursuit of liberty and truth than with the self-interest of the wealthy, the greedy, and the powerful. Free speech, as we know it, is a product of the pursuit of profit, of technological disruption, of racial and imperial hypocrisy, and of the contradictions involved in maintaining openness while suppressing falsehood. For centuries, its shape has everywhere been influenced by international, not just national, events; nowhere has it ever been equally available to women, the colonized, or those stigmatized as racially inferior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rejecting platitudes about the First Amendment and its international equivalents, and leaving no ideological position undisturbed,&nbsp;<em>What Is Free Speech?<\/em>&nbsp;is the unsettling history of an ideal as cherished as it is misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fara Dabhoiwala <\/strong>is Senior Research Scholar at Princeton University and author of&nbsp;<em>The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution<\/em>. Formerly on faculty at the University of Oxford, he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, All Souls College, and Exeter College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>480 pages \/ Belknap Press \/ 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/books\/9780674987319\">https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/books\/9780674987319<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Dabhoiwala-Free-Speech.jpeg?fit=1430%2C2090&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54517,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54517","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":0},"title":"CfP: Entangled Transformations: Temporalities, Experiences, and Critical Histories of Postsocialist Change in Europe","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"8. srpnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"International Workshop organised by the Department of History, University of Warsaw and the Department of Public History, FernUniversit\u00e4t in Hagen Often framed within the triumphalist narrative, most prominently articulated in the \u201cend of history\u201d concept (Fukuyama, 1989), transformations that reshaped the socialist states in Europe in the late twentieth century\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54541,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54541","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":1},"title":"(CAPONEU) Summer School in Critical Theory and Praxis: Literature and Society","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"9. srpnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Ljetna \u0161kola\u00a0Summer School in Critical Theory and Praxis: Literature and Society odr\u017eava se od\u00a05. do 12. srpnja 2026.\u00a0u\u00a0Pala\u010di Moise u Cresu. Program organizira\u00a0Centar za teorijska istra\u017eivanja u humanistici (CTIH)\u00a0u okviru projekta\u00a0The Cartography of Political Novel in Europe (CAPONEU). Rije\u010d je o sedmodnevnom intenzivnom programu koji okuplja znanstvenike, studente, umjetnike, nastavnike,\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51908,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=51908","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":2},"title":"(CAPONEU) Poziv za prijavu: Summer School in Critical Theory and Praxis: Literature and Society","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"14. o\u017eujka 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Pozivamo vas na ljetnu \u0161kolu\u00a0Summer School in Critical Theory and Praxis: Literature and Society, koja \u0107e se odr\u017eati od\u00a05. do 12. srpnja 2026.\u00a0u\u00a0Pala\u010di Moise u Cresu. Program organizira\u00a0Centar za teorijska istra\u017eivanja u humanistici (CTIH)\u00a0u okviru projekta\u00a0The Cartography of Political Novel in Europe (CAPONEU). Rije\u010d je o sedmodnevnom intenzivnom programu koji\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cres.png?fit=712%2C1004&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54554,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54554","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":3},"title":"CfP: Religion and Revolution: Alternative Religiosity and Radical Politics in the (Post-)Industrial Age (1800-2000)","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"10. srpnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This conference invites scholars to examine the intersections between left-wing and\/or revolutionary politics and alternative religiosity over the past two centuries. Alternative religious ideas and practices have served as powerful resources for the political imagination, social critique, and revolutionary mobilization. Yet the relationship between alternative religious currents and emancipatory politics\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53712,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53712","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":4},"title":"INVITATION TO A SERIES OF SHORT LECTURES ENTITLED BEYOND PASTORAL CARE: CLERGY, SOCIETY, AND POPULAR AGENCY IN THE LATE HABSBURG EMPIRE","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"25. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"You are kindly invited to a series of short lectures entitled Beyond Pastoral Care: Clergy, Society, and Popular Agency in the Late Habsburg Empire, which will take place on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, from 11:00 to 13:00 at the Institute of Contemporary History. The event will feature a lecture by\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Clergy-2.png?fit=1090%2C615&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Clergy-2.png?fit=1090%2C615&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Clergy-2.png?fit=1090%2C615&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Clergy-2.png?fit=1090%2C615&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Clergy-2.png?fit=1090%2C615&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54328,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54328","url_meta":{"origin":47986,"position":5},"title":"Me\u0111unarodna konferencija \u201eArt in Society\u201c, Zagreb, 1. \u2013 4. 7. 2026.","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"26. lipnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Me\u0111unarodna konferencija \u201eArt in Society\u201c odr\u017eat \u0107e se od 1. do 4. srpnja 2026. godine na Filozofskom fakultetu Sveu\u010dili\u0161ta u Zagrebu. Skup okuplja stru\u010dnjake iz podru\u010dja povijesti umjetnosti, arhitekture, muzeologije i srodnih disciplina iz brojnih zemalja Europe i svijeta. Polaze\u0107i od shva\u0107anja umjetnosti kao aktivne i transformativne sile unutar dru\u0161tvenog\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ArtinS_2026.jpg?fit=1191%2C839&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ArtinS_2026.jpg?fit=1191%2C839&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ArtinS_2026.jpg?fit=1191%2C839&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ArtinS_2026.jpg?fit=1191%2C839&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ArtinS_2026.jpg?fit=1191%2C839&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47991,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47986\/revisions\/47991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}