This book is devoted to an analysis of the right to communicate. It takes the reader through the historical, socio-cultural, and political backdrop that sets the stage for an understanding of why the right to communicate is important in a globalised, digital world. It discusses the global debates on the topic and examines premises for the future.

It is divided into three parts, as follows:

1. Historical Hopes
• Chapter 1 ‘The Baron of the Right to Communicate: Jean d’Arcy (1913-1983)’ by Aliaa Dakroury.
• Chapter 2 ‘The Roots of the Right to Communicate and Emerging Participatory Policy’ by Jenifer S. Winter and Dan J. Wedemeyer.
• Chapter 3 ‘Communication as a Human Right: Picking up the Challenge?’ by Cees J. Hamelink and Julia Hoffmann.
• Chapter 4 ‘A Historical Testimony: From the New World Information and Communication Order to the Digital Order’ by Mustapha Masmoudi.
• Chapter 5 ‘Communication Rights and the Millennium Development Goals’ by Philip Lee.
2. Global Debates
• Chapter 6 ‘The Right to Communicate: From Intergovernmental to Global Civil Society Debates’ by Lauren B. Movius.
• Chapter 7 ‘Skimming the Cream, Throttling the Tubes, Doing the Policy Laundering, and Jiving to the Supply-Side Boogie: Challenges to the Right to Communicate in Canada’ by Leslie Regan Shade.
• Chapter 8 ‘Rights on Paper, but Not in Practice: A History of State Censorship in Canada’ by Patricia Mazepa.
• Chapter 9 ‘Communication Rights are Human Rights: A Case Study of Thailand’s Media’ by Jan Servaes, Patchanee Malikhao, and Thaniya Pinprayong.
• Chapter 10 ‘Peace Journalism: The Right to Communicate and the Open Broadcast Network in Bosnia’ by Vladimir Bratic, Susan Dente Ross, and Hyeonjin Kang-Graham.
3. Future Premises
• Chapter 11 ‘Putting Practice into Theory: A Right to Communicate Research Strategy’ by William F. Birdsall.
• Chapter 12 ‘The Right to Communicate Religious Speech in the Public Sphere’ by Jason Hannan.
• Chapter 13 ‘Communication “Postcards” from Canada: The Public Interest, the Right to Communicate, and Political Activism’ by Vanda Rideout.
• Chapter 14 ‘Mass Media, Civil Society, and the Right to Communicate in Latin America’ by Miriam Wimmer and Octavio Penna Pieranti.
• Chapter 15 ‘Alternative Arab Media and the Right to Communicate in the Middle East’ by El Mustapha Lahlali.

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The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) Media Action website, index of articles published from January to June 2009.