Speech Out of Doors: Preserving First Amendment Liberties in Public Places (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521517300)

Even in an age characterized by increasing virtual presence and communication, speakers still need physical places in which to exercise First Amendment liberties. This book examines the critical intersection of public speech and spatiality. Through a tour of various places on what the author calls the "expressive topography," the book considers a variety of public speech activities including sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics, residential picketing, protesting near funerals, assembling and speaking on college campuses, and participating in public rallies and demonstrations at political conventions and other critical democratic events. This examination of public liberties, or speech out of doors, shows that place can be as important to one's expressive experience as voice, sight, and auditory function. Speakers derive a host of benefits, such as proximity, immediacy, symbolic function, and solidarity, from message placement. Unfortunately, for several decades the ground beneath speakers' feet has been steadily eroding. The causes of this erosion are varied and complex; they include privatization and other loss of public space, legal restrictions on public assembly and expression, methods of policing public speech activity, and general public apathy. To counter these forces and reverse at least some of their effects will require a focused and sustained effort - by public officials, courts, and of course, the people themselves.

Author: Timothy Zick
ISBN-10: 0521517303
ISBN-13: 9780521517300
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/27/2008
Pages: 362
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.70w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 11/28/2008 pg. 17
Choice 08/01/2009