Rowman & Littlefield Publishers The First Freedoms and America's Culture of Innovation: The Constitutional Foundations of the Aspirational Society

This is a book about the dynamics of the aspirational society. It explores the boundaries of permissible thought--deviations and transgressions that create constant innovations. When confronted with a problem, an innovative mind struggles and brings forth something distinctive--new ideas, new inventions, and new programs based on unconventional approaches to solve the problem. But this can be done only if the culture creates large breathing spaces by leaving people alone, not as a matter of state generosity but as something fundamental in being an American. Consequently, the Constitutional mandate of "Congress shall make no law..." has encouraged fearless speech, unrestrained thought, and endless experimentation leading to newer developments in science, technology, the arts, and not least socio-political relations. Most of all, the First Freedoms liberate the mind from irrational fears and encourage an environment of divergent thinking, non-conformity, and resistance to a collective mindset. The First Freedoms encourage Americans to be iconoclastic, to be creatively crazy, to be impure, thus, enabling them to mix and re-mix ideas to design new technologies and cultural forms and platforms, anything from experimental social relations and big data explorations to electing our first black president. Review Discovering the truth, voting wisely, and realizing one's identity; it is a trio of well established justifications for protecting speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, corresponding, respectively, to free-expression theories known as the marketplace of ideas, democratic self-governance, and autonomy/human dignity. To this list, Narain D. Batra now adds another important free-speech value--innovation--in his timely and example-packed tome, The First Freedoms and America's Culture of Innovation. . . .One strength of this book is the author's ability to surf the pop-cultural realm to illustrate larger points about free speech, communication technologies, innovation and aspirational society. . . .Batra knows how to turn clever, memorable, and inspiring phrases about the importance of the First Amendment. Free-speech scholars going forward likely will cite and sprinkle some of these chestnuts into their own writing when addressing the power and purposes of the First Amendment. . . .Ultimately, Batra makes a valuable contribution not only to the literature on free expression, but also to the workings of modern American society. With time, the innovation value of the First Amendment might well take its place alongside established First Amendment theories.--Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly Narain Batra makes a fascinating case that the First Amendment - in particular, its protection of free speech - has been a linchpin of America's entrepreneurial spirit. Free speech is a requirement, not just a good idea, for any culture that wants to participate fully in the 21st Century economy.--Dan Gillmor, Director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Arizona State University This wide-ranging and thought-provoking book makes the compelling case that freedom of expression has extraordinary value beyond governance and civic engagement. It also prompts one to take a new, fresh look at the economic importance of basic freedoms in places ranging from 21st Century China to post-9/11 America.--Charles J. Wheelan, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Dartmouth College About the Author Narain D. Batra is professor of communications at Norwich University, Vermont, where he teaches media law, ethics, television criticism, and social media and the Internet.