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School of Law

Book launch: ‘Freedom of Expression: The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought’

When: Friday, January 28, 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Online

‘Freedom of Expression: The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought’ book coverThe Centre for Law, Democracy and Society is delighted to host the book launch of Dr Ioanna Tourkochoriti ‘Freedom of Expression: The Revolutionary Roots of American and French Legal Thought’.

About the book

Two legal systems founded on similar Enlightenment philosophical and political values use state coercion differently to regulate a liberty at the core of the Enlightenment: Freedom of Expression. This comparative study of France and the United States proposes a novel theory of how the limits of freedom of expression are informed by different revolutionary experiences and constitutional and political arrangements. Ioanna Tourkochoriti argues that the different ways freedom of expression is balanced against other values in France and the United States can be understood in reference to the role of the government and the understanding of republicanism and liberty. This understanding affects how jurists define the content and the limits of a liberty and strike a balance between liberties in conflict. Exploring both the legal traditions of the two countries, this study sheds new light on the broader historical, social and philosophical contexts in which jurists operate.

About the author

Dr Ioanna Tourkochoriti is a legal scholar working on issues of human rights, constitutional law and jurisprudence from a comparative perspective. Before joining the Law Faculty at NUI Galway she held for eight years research and Faculty appointments at Harvard University. She was a Wertheim Fellow at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and a Lecturer on Law and Social Studies at the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies at Harvard University. She was also a Visiting Professor at the Department of Law at Carleton University, Canada. During Academic year 2019-2020 she was a Visiting Fellow at LSE's Law Department.

Commentators

  • Professor Martin Loughlin (Professor of Public Law, LSE)
  • Professor Frederick Schauer (David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia)
  • Professor Moyn Samuel (Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale University)
  • Professor Fara Dabhoiwala (Senior Research Scholar, Princeton University)

**Please note this is an online event and that joining details will be sent to you on the day.

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