Book Review: Fearless Speech: Seeking Freedom Beyond the (Liberal) Fishbowl

Abstract

Ratna Kapur’s latest book provocatively invites readers to join her in her search for freedom. Along the way, she dares us to travel beyond the now well-worn pathways of human rights critique; to venture beyond the confines of the (neo)liberal emancipatory imaginary — the evocative ‘fishbowl’ of her title — and explore alternative non-liberal (not illiberal) understandings of subjectivity and freedom. In her acknowledgments, Kapur describes writing the book as a journey — in both the intellectual and deeply personal realms. In writing this review, we have accepted her invitation to join her search by reflecting on our own research and how it is challenged, changed, reimagined and/or encourag..