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Political Science Censorship

Interpreting Censorship in Canada

edited by Allan Hutchinson & Klaus Petersen

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Sep 1999
Category
Censorship, Civil Rights, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802080264
    Publish Date
    Sep 1999
    List Price
    $58.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802041647
    Publish Date
    Sep 1999
    List Price
    $89.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442676251
    Publish Date
    Aug 1999
    List Price
    $114.00

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Description

It has been part of the liberal tradition to decry censorship in all its forms, and to attempt to separate censorship from democratic forms of government. There has been as yet no real attempt to integrate censorship into political theory.

The twenty-three contributors to this book view censorship pragmatically. They aim to treat it as a constituent feature of any system of social control or practice. By capturing and analyzing the social, political, cultural and economic components of restriction of freedom of expression and access to information, they go beyond the merely ideological pro and anti censorship arguments, exposing the extent of censorship in Canada today, exploring its structures, and showing what it reveals about our political culture.

Because censorship manifests itself in so many ways, the diversity of approach of this book contributes to the authors purpose - to enhance our awareness to not only the practice of censorship, but also how talk about censorship as an expression of changes in thoughts, values, and social behaviour over time.

Despite their different approaches, the contributors to this volume agree in their perception of censorship as a value-driven instrument of power. It is not their intention to deride this control as such. Socially organized activity cannot occur without censorship, and the questions concern forms of censorship, the implementation of censorship, and the interests served.

About the authors

Allan Hutchinson is a distinguished research professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

Allan Hutchinson's profile page

Klaus Petersen is in the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Klaus Petersen's profile page