Free Speech Reading List
Books about Free Speech
The landscape of free speech is intricate and multifaceted. Understanding its principles, historical context, and contemporary challenges is crucial for informed dialogue. The following books offer diverse perspectives to deepen your exploration of this vital subject.
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The Chicago Canon on Free Inquiry and Expression
A collection of texts that provide the foundation for the University of Chicago's longstanding tradition of free expression, principles that are at the center of current debates within higher education and society more broadly.
Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know
An engaging guide to the most important free speech rules, rationales, and debates, including the strongest arguments for and against protecting the most controversial speech, such as hate speech and disinformation.
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All
A vital, necessary guide to maintaining democratic debate that is open, free-wheeling but at the same time respectful of the rich diversity of backgrounds and opinions in a changing country.
Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media
Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of free speech. Through captivating stories of its defenders, the book reveals how the free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement.
Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech
Keith Whittington argues that universities must protect and encourage free speech because vigorous free speech is the lifeblood of the university. Without it, a university cannot fulfill its most basic purposes.
Hate: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship
This book shows that non-censorial countermeasures, including robust "counterspeech," are more effective than censorship in advancing equality and societal harmony.
Campus Free Speech: A Pocket Guide
From renowned legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein, this is a concise, case-by-case guide to resolving free-speech dilemmas at colleges and universities.
Free Speech 101: A Practical Guide for Students
The first book specifically for students about what free speech means on campus—and why it is so important. Written in clear, accessible language.
The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
A timely and brilliant look at freedom of speech—our most basic right and the one that protects all others. It places current attacks on free speech in historical, legal, and political context.
Campus Misinformation: The Real Threat to Free Speech
An incisive examination of how pundits and politicians manufactured the campus free speech crisis—and created a genuine challenge to academic freedom.
Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation
This book explores the history of protected falsehoods and current challenges posed by misinformation. It discusses why courts are reluctant to be arbiters of truth.
Democracy, Expertise, & Academic Freedom
An eye-opening analysis of the inherent tension between our commitment to a free-wheeling marketplace of ideas and our need to recognize and protect the values of expertise.
Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus
Explores how the contemporary university’s emphasis on multiculturalism and diversity has led to new, more subtle forms of intellectual conformity and speech restrictions.
Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate
Drawing on a decade of experience battling for free speech, a First Amendment lawyer reveals how higher education often fails to teach students how to live in a free society.
The Soul of the First Amendment
A celebrated First Amendment lawyer discusses the unique protections for freedom of speech in the United States, arguing against recent calls to retreat from them.
Free Speech on Campus
Two university leaders make the case that campuses must provide a supportive learning environment for a diverse student body but can never restrict the expression of ideas.
The Coddling of the American Mind
Explores how the embrace of "safetyism" on campus has interfered with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development.
Free Speech and Liberal Education
A plea for intellectual diversity and tolerance, arguing that these principles are essential for a truly liberal education and the pursuit of truth.
Understanding Academic Freedom
An introduction to the history and meaning of academic freedom, its defense, and the challenges it faces from both on and off campus.
The First Amendment: Essays on the Imperative of Intellectual Freedom
Demonstrates that the particular freedoms of the First Amendment are united by a crucial principle: intellectual freedom, which is indispensable for a free society.
Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?
A blistering polemic presenting an uncompromising defense of freedom of expression, arguing it's threatened by a creeping culture of conformism.
The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America’s Campuses
A stinging indictment of the covert system of justice on college campuses, exposing the reliance on kangaroo courts to coerce students and faculty into conformity.