Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America [Hardcover]

Steven H. Shiffrin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691001421 | ISBN-13: 978-0691001425 | Publication Date: December 28, 1998

The author argues that Americans should be able to dissent in the name of free speech, but are restricted by the country's major institutions, including the Supreme Court and the mass media. The book refers to the implications of dissent with regard to topics like cigarette advertising, racist speech and flag burning, adding that such an approach reveals weaknesses in the approaches to free speech taken by postmodernism, Republicanism, deliberative democratic theory, outsider jurisprudence, and liberal theory. Social functions of dissent are emphasized throughout the text, in respect of combating injustice and its place in cultural struggles over the meanings of America. The author contends that defamation laws should be less protective of those in power, commercial interests in the media should be loosened and young people ought to be taught the importance of challenging injustice.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Shiffrin (law, Cornell) analyzes contemporary First Amendment jurisprudence, paying special attention to problems created by various forms of "hate speech" legislation. He contends that these types of speech restrictions do not fit into the traditional "free speech" framework, one that views free speech as a "marketplace of ideas." Rather, Shiffrin advocates a shift in First Amendment law toward a structure that better ensures various forms of dissent. The freedom to dissent, he observes, is the basis for preventing tyranny, as outlined by such notable liberty theorists as John Stuart Mill. Shiffrin's perspective also seems influenced by nontraditional intellectual strands, such as "critical race theory," which closely examines how racism affects American justice, and neo-Marxism. One is left wondering if he envisions a structure wherein some dissent is more protected than others. This is an academic work that will be appreciated by left-leaning legal scholarsAthose who will take the time to reread Shiffrin's informed but dense prose.ASteven Anderson, Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger & Hollander, Baltimore
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Shiffrin, one of the academy's leading first-amendment scholars, weaves into his account critiques of many of the arguments made by contemporary scholars, not to mention often devastating analyses of current Supreme Court doctrine." -- Sanford Levinson, University of Texas at Austin

"This book will reinforce Shiffrin's position as one of the leading, if not the leading, theorist of a progressive understanding of free speech." -- Frederick Schauer, Harvard University

"What emerges from this fundamental reorientation is . . . a well rendered account of an embattled national vision: a vision of what it might mean to be an engaged participant in civic life, to be an independent thinker, and ultimately to be an American." -- Robin West, Georgetown University

In exploring dissent as a tool in opposing injustice, [Shiffrin] examines the place of dissent in liberal theory and in the media marketplace, as well as the marginalization of dissent. A demanding but interesting analysis. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (December 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691001421
• ISBN-13: 978-0691001425
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,571,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book; claims dissent is central meaning of 1st amend., June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America (Hardcover)

Although lots of speech serves valuable roles in people's lives, constitutional protection is only needed for speech that those with power may want to suppress. Primarily, that is speech that those with power consider harmful, whether harmful to their own interests, to other people, to the society, or maybe even to the speaker herself. Such speech is most often the speech of the dissenter who challenges some aspect of the status quo. Those who like things as they are or who wants to maintain there current position often find the dissenter's speech to be offensive, misguided, wrong, and harmful. It should be obvious that this is the speech that is in danger of being suppressed, but surprisingly few scholars note this point. The major exception is Steve Shiffrin. In Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America, Shiffrin argues that the central meaning of the First Amendment is to protect dissent. // para // There are at least two not incompatible reasons why America could value First Amendment protection of dissent. People's dissenting speech could be the aspect of their expressive liberty that the government is most likely to suppress - and, thus, constitutional protection follows for a society that values individual liberty. Shiffrin, however, emphasizes a second explanation. Hierarchies, which are a necessary part of many of the economic, political, and social organizations on which modern society depends, are inevitably infected with injustice and with unnecessary inequalities. Those in power and those who adjust to the status quo will either rationalize or be blind to these injustices. Dissenters are absolutely vital for identifying, challenging, and correcting or alleviating them. For this reason, Shiffrin persuasively argues, America needs and, at its wiser moments, has valued dissent. And this positive valuation provides a distinctive lens with which to interpret the First Amendment. Thus, Shiffrin argues that it is the street corner dissenter, the whistle blowing employee, the advocate seeking access to a broader public by leafletting at a shopping center or getting her views covered by the mass media, not the corporation hawking its wares or trying to buy election outcomes, who merits First Amendment protection. // para // Shiffrin develops his theme in a variety of contexts. His approach better describes the constitutional protection received by the flag burner than do other theories. He provides one (of many) reasons to regret the Court's current enchantment with protecting corporate advertisers. For some, the most surprising (and, for me, the finally unpersuasive) chapter is a very careful, balanced and nuanced account arguing that the focus on dissent would not justify protecting racist speech - although he then concludes that attempts to suppress broadly targeted racist speech would likely be counter productive. His final chapter argues not only that dissent plays an absolutely vital role in making society more just but also, contrary to some academic leftist thought, that any leftist with sense should be a strong supporter of free speech. // para // Bottom line: superb book. Carefully reasoned and well written, with a huge number of helpful references. Accessible to any intelligent member of the public while challenging and informative for even the most advanced lawyer or scholar. In addition to anyone already interested in freedom of speech, the book is invaluable for anyone interested in the processes by which challenges to injustice occur or interested in a progressive understanding of America identity. I highly recommend this superb book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful argument from a distinguished scholar and teacher, April 21, 2000

By 

Jack M. Balkin (New Haven, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America (Hardcover)

Steve Shiffrin is one of the most important thinkers writing on First Amendment issues today. He has long held the view that the point of the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech is to protect dissent. Shiffrin's dissent-based view constrasts both with libertarian defenses of freedom of speech and the familiar metaphor of truth emerging from the "marketplace of ideas."

Dissent, Shiffrin argues, is a phenomenon closely tied to human beings' felt sense of injustice. Dissent involves ordinary people talking about and criticizing injustice as they see it, whether that injustice is recognized by the rest of us, and whether it is couched in terms that elites regard as "political."

Shiffrin applies his dissent-based theory to contemporary issues like funding for the arts, flag burning, racist speech, and commercial speech. In each case, Shiffrin asks, we need to consider whether the law or regulation in question promotes the goal of dissent or is irrelevant or even contrary to that goal. A good example is Shiffrin's attack on the Supreme Court's commercial speech doctrines, which, he says, do little to promote dissent and much to protect the rich and powerful.

The heart of this book is its fourth chapter, where Shiffrin argues that government should not only protect dissent, but also actively promote it. For Shiffrin, freedom of speech is not, as some have claimed, a purely negative prohibition on government action. Shiffrin argues that to truly guarantee freedom of speech, it is not enough to overturn statutes and regulations that impinge on expression. Rather, because the cultural and economic forces that stifle dissent are often quite powerful, we must reform institutions like the educational process and the mass media as well as our electoral system. Shiffrin understands that culture, economy, and social structure work together with law to create the conditions for a flourishing system of free expression.

This short book is a welcome addition to the literature on freedom of speech by one of our most distinguished thinkers on the subject.

3 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A huge dissapointment brought on by hack politics, November 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America (Hardcover)

I read this little volume expecting to find a detailing of the reasons free speech no longer exists in certain sectors of public life where they are neededs most -specifically the universities- and came out thinking "say what?"

In a masterful twist of political showmanship, Shifrin avoids coming to the blunt conclusions necessary for underastanding political life in the universities- that the modern radical left has wipied out the free exhcange of ideas. Essentially, Shiffrin ignored this overpoweringly important subject of dissent because of his own politcal sensibilities. This man reminds me of the essay "Politics and the English Language" by Orwell if only because of the artfull skill Shiffrin used to make mincemeat of that basic truth.