The difference between genocide and crimes against humanity
We regularly highlight comments that have made an impression on us. Antoon de Baets left an insightful response to Josie Appleton's discussion of memory laws in France.
Taming the gods: religion and politics
At the 2013 Jaipur Festival, Ian Buruma, Reza Aslan, Ahdaf Souief and Timothy Garton Ash, in conversation with Shoma Chaudhury, talk about the relationship between religion and politics and how to deal with religious threats to free speech.
Freedom for history? The case against memory laws
Josie Appleton talks to Pierre Nora and Olivier Salvatori of the Liberté pour l’Histoire initiative in France.
The writer and the state
The relationship between writers and the state is complex, multifaceted and changing. At the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 a panel of experts explores some of the issues faced by writers around the world.
The practice of freedom
Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi stresses the importance of free speech but emphasises the Buddhist idea of "right speech".
The Future of Free Speech
Human Rights activist Aryeh Neier speaks about the future of free speech.
Egypt’s one-way traffic in books
Historian Khaled Fahmy describes how historic Egyptian books are more easily found in Western than in Egyptian libraries - and how a scholarly history of the Middle East was recently banned from entering Egypt.
Why the EU’s “harmonisation machine” should stay away from history
Claus Leggewie and Horst Meier explain why memory laws are the wrong way for Europeans to remember and debate their difficult pasts.
Hitler’s Mein Kampf as satire
The German comedian Serdar Somuncu recites extracts from Mein Kampf to highlight the absurdity of Hitler’s propaganda, writes Sebastian Huempfer.
The Japanese New History Textbook controversy
A history textbook underplaying Japanese imperialism caused controversy domestically and internationally, write Ayako Komine and Naoko Hosokawa.
France’s Armenian genocide law
In January 2012, the French Senate approved a law criminalising the denial of any genocide recognised by the state, writes Clementine de Montjoye.
Non-state censorship in modern-day India
At an event in Oxford in 2011, three Indian scholars called on OUP India to re-publish an essay which had been denounced by Hindu extremists. Less than two weeks later, the publisher reversed its earlier decision not to re-publish.
The vital presence of the past
History is a sensitive issue in China with some of it desperately remembered and some, deliberately forgotten, writes Judith Bruhn.
Hasan Cemal: Freedom of expression in Turkey
From communism to Kurdish separatism, the Turkish state has used a series of pretexts to deny freedom of expression to its citizens, says journalist Hasan Cemal.
Unpacking hate speech
A trio of human rights experts elaborate on the definition of dangerous speech and consider how hate speech is protected both in Europe and under the first amendment in the US.
How Turkish taboos perpetuate immaturity
Professor Ayşe Kadıoğlu of Sabancı University speaks of her experience growing up in Turkey where taboos, many imposed by law, have trapped citizens "in a state of immaturity".
