Please join the Society for Linguistic Anthropology for this important conversation, the first installment of its SLA Online programming.
What Does Free Speech Discourse Do? An SLA Online Discussion
Friday, January 24, 2025 – 11 AM to 12:30 PM CT
This panel gathers a mix of scholars from within and without the field of linguistic anthropology to share their critical research on the topic of free speech. In liberal contexts, freedom of speech is often presented as a personal freedom and is thereby understood as a matter of individual rights, of the right of individuals to speak their minds, even against political authorities and public norms. This panel, however, seeks to place free speech discourse in broader ethnographic and historical perspectives. The aim will not be to ask what is or isn’t free speech, but rather to examine what free speech discourse does. For example, what kinds of political claims and political actions does free speech discourse make possible? Does free speech also entail forms of silencing? What kinds of social actors can avail themselves of free speech discourses and which cannot?
Panelists: Kendra Calhoun (University of Illinois, Champain), Matei Candea (Cambridge University), Francis Cody (University of Toronto), Mariam Durrani (American University), and Darcy Leigh (University of Sussex )
Moderators: Andrew Graan and Fadi Hakim (University of Chicago)
Zoom Link:
https://uchicago.zoom.us/j/93068869375?pwd=vlP5eLnxrvoBrIpUa3lKEScXEJJZaa.1
Meeting ID: 930 6886 9375
Passcode: 815604