Dangerous Ideas
A Brief History of Censorship in the West, from the Ancients to Fake News
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- 17,99 €
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- 17,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
The urge to censor is as old as the urge to speak. From the first Chinese emperor's wholesale elimination of books to the Vatican's suppression of pornography, right up to the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the advent of Internet troll armies in this century, words, images and ideas have always been hunted down by those trying to suppress them.
In this compelling account, Eric Berkowitz reveals why and how humanity has, from the beginning, sought to silence itself. Ranging from the absurd – such as Henry VIII's decree of death for anyone who 'imagined' his demise – to claims by American slave owners that abolitionist literature should be supressed because it hurt their feelings, Berkowitz takes the reader on an unruly ride through history, highlighting the use of censorship to reinforce class, race and gender privilege, and to guard against offence.
Elucidating phrases like 'fake news' and 'hate speech', Dangerous Ideas exposes the dangers of erasing history, how censorship has shaped our modern society and what forms it is taking today – and to what disturbing effects.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Berkowitz (Sex and Punishment) examines how censorship backfires in this thought-provoking account. He notes that although the ancient Romans tried to eradicate the memory of "egregious" wrongdoers such as Brutus and Nero by mutilating their images and banning the use of their names, their deeds remain well-known today. Censorship tends to run in cycles, according to Berkowitz—what's forbidden under one pope or government may be venerated or celebrated under the next. Other topics include the 1873 Comstock Act's ban on sending information about birth control through the mail, how the fatwa against Salman Rushdie for the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988 inaugurated an era in which free speech "has been transformed from an inherent good into an inherent problem because of its potential for offense," and the Trump administration's efforts to censor data on climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. Berkowitz segues fluidly between historical eras and marshals a plethora of intriguing case studies. Readers will be convinced that policing harmful rhetoric too aggressively "will cause worse mischief in the long run."