The below letter will be appearing in the Letters section of the October issue of Harper's Magazine’s The magazine welcomes all responses at letters@harpers.org

Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society, not least in higher education, journalism, philanthropy, and the arts. But this needed reckoning has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity. As we applaud the first development, we also raise our voices against the second. The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength throughout the world and have a powerful ally in Donald Trump, who represents a real threat to democracy. But resistance must not be allowed to harden into its own brand of dogma or coercion—which right-wing demagogues are already exploiting. The democratic inclusion we want can be achieved only if we speak out against the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.

The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty. We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters. But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought. More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms. Editors are fired for running controversial pieces; books are withdrawn for alleged inauthenticity; journalists are barred from writing on certain topics; professors are investigated for quoting works of literature in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a peer-reviewed academic study; and the heads of organizations are ousted for what are sometimes just clumsy mistakes. Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal. We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement.

This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away. We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other. As writers we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we won’t defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn’t expect the public or the state to defend it for us.

Elliot Ackerman
Saladin AmbarRutgers University
Martin Amis
Anne Applebaum
Marie Aranaauthor
Margaret Atwood
John Banville
Mia Bayhistorian
Louis Begleywriter
Roger BerkowitzBard College
Paul Bermanwriter
Sheri BermanBarnard College
Reginald Dwayne Bettspoet
Neil Blairagent
David W. BlightYale University
Jennifer Finney Boylanauthor
David Bromwich
David Brookscolumnist
Ian BurumaBard College
Lea Carpenter
Noam ChomskyMIT (emeritus)
Nicholas A. ChristakisYale University
Roger Cohenwriter
Ambassador Frances D. Cookret.
Drucilla CornellFounder, uBuntu Project
Kamel Daoud
Meghan Daumwriter
Gerald EarlyWashington University-St. Louis
Jeffrey Eugenideswriter
Dexter Filkins
Federico FinchelsteinThe New School
Caitlin Flanagan
Richard T. FordStanford Law School
Kmele Foster
David Frumjournalist
Francis FukuyamaStanford University
Atul GawandeHarvard University
Todd GitlinColumbia University
Kim Ghattas
Malcolm Gladwell
Michelle Goldbergcolumnist
Rebecca Goldsteinwriter
Anthony GraftonPrinceton University
David GreenbergRutgers University
Linda Greenhouse
Rinne B. Groffplaywright
Sarah Haideractivist
Jonathan HaidtNYU-Stern
Roya Hakakianwriter
Shadi HamidBrookings Institution
Jeet HeerThe Nation
Katie Herzogpodcast host
Susannah HeschelDartmouth College
Adam Hochschildauthor
Arlie Russell Hochschildauthor
Eva Hoffmanwriter
Coleman Hugheswriter/Manhattan Institute
Hussein IbishArab Gulf States Institute
Michael Ignatieff
Zaid Jilanijournalist
Bill T. JonesNew York Live Arts
Wendy Kaminerwriter
Matthew KarpPrinceton University
Garry KasparovRenew Democracy Initiative
Daniel Kehlmannwriter
Randall Kennedy
Khaled Khalifawriter
Parag Khannaauthor
Laura KipnisNorthwestern University
Frances KisslingCenter for Health, Ethics, Social Policy
Enrique Krauzehistorian
Anthony KronmanYale University
Joy LadinYeshiva University
Nicholas LemannColumbia University
Mark LillaColumbia University
Susie LinfieldNew York University
Damon Linkerwriter
Dahlia LithwickSlateSteven LukesNew York University
John R. MacArthurpublisher, writer
Susan Madrakwriter
Phoebe Maltz Bovy
writer
Greil Marcus
Wynton MarsalisJazz at Lincoln Center
Kati Martonauthor
Debra Mashekscholar
Deirdre McCloskeyUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
John McWhorterColumbia University
Uday MehtaCity University of New York
Andrew MoravcsikPrinceton University
Yascha MounkPersuasion
Samuel MoynYale UniversityMeera Nandawriter and teacher
Cary NelsonUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Olivia NuzziNew York Magazine
Mark OppenheimerYale University
Dael Orlandersmithwriter/performer
George Packer
Nell Irvin PainterPrinceton University (emerita)
Greg PardloRutgers University – Camden
Orlando PattersonHarvard University
Steven PinkerHarvard University
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Katha Pollitt
writer
Claire Bond PotterThe New School
Taufiq Rahim
Zia Haider Rahmanwriter
Jennifer Ratner-RosenhagenUniversity of Wisconsin
Jonathan RauchBrookings Institution/The Atlantic
Neil Robertspolitical theorist
Melvin RogersBrown University
Kat Rosenfieldwriter
Loretta J. RossSmith College
J.K. Rowling
Salman RushdieNew York University
Karim SadjadpourCarnegie Endowment
Daryl Michael ScottHoward University
Diana Senechalteacher and writer
Jennifer Seniorcolumnist
Judith Shulevitzwriter
Jesse Singaljournalist
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Andrew Solomonwriter
Deborah Solomoncritic and biographer
Allison StangerMiddlebury College
Paul StarrAmerican Prospect/Princeton University
Wendell Steavensonwriter
Gloria Steinemwriter and activist
Nadine StrossenNew York Law School
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr.Harvard Law School
Kian TajbakhshColumbia University
Zephyr TeachoutFordham University
Cynthia TuckerUniversity of South Alabama
Adaner UsmaniHarvard University
Chloe Valdary
Helen VendlerHarvard University
Judy B. Walzer
Michael Walzer
Eric K. Washingtonhistorian
Caroline Weberhistorian
Randi WeingartenAmerican Federation of Teachers
Bari Weiss
Sean WilentzPrinceton University
Garry Wills
Thomas Chatterton Williamswriter
Robert F. Worthjournalist and author
Molly WorthenUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Matthew Yglesias
Emily Yoffejournalist
Cathy Youngjournalist
Fareed Zakaria

A Letter On Justice And Open Debate

The below letter will be appearing in the Letters section of the October issue of Harper's Magazine’s The magazine welcomes all responses at letters@harpers.org

Our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial. Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform, along with wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society, not least in higher education, journalism, philanthropy, and the arts. But this needed reckoning has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity. As we applaud the first development, we also raise our voices against the second. The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength throughout the world and have a powerful ally in Donald Trump, who represents a real threat to democracy. But resistance must not be allowed to harden into its own brand of dogma or coercion—which right-wing demagogues are already exploiting. The democratic inclusion we want can be achieved only if we speak out against the intolerant climate that has set in on all sides.

The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted. While we have come to expect this on the radical right, censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty. We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters. But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought. More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms. Editors are fired for running controversial pieces; books are withdrawn for alleged inauthenticity; journalists are barred from writing on certain topics; professors are investigated for quoting works of literature in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a peer-reviewed academic study; and the heads of organizations are ousted for what are sometimes just clumsy mistakes. Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal. We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement.

This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away. We refuse any false choice between justice and freedom, which cannot exist without each other. As writers we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk taking, and even mistakes. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we won’t defend the very thing on which our work depends, we shouldn’t expect the public or the state to defend it for us.

Elliot Ackerman
Saladin AmbarRutgers University
Martin Amis
Anne Applebaum
Marie Aranaauthor
Margaret Atwood
John Banville
Mia Bayhistorian
Louis Begleywriter
Roger BerkowitzBard College
Paul Bermanwriter
Sheri BermanBarnard College
Reginald Dwayne Bettspoet
Neil Blairagent
David W. BlightYale University
Jennifer Finney Boylanauthor
David Bromwich
David Brookscolumnist
Ian BurumaBard College
Lea Carpenter
Noam ChomskyMIT (emeritus)
Nicholas A. ChristakisYale University
Roger Cohenwriter
Ambassador Frances D. Cookret.
Drucilla CornellFounder, uBuntu Project
Kamel Daoud
Meghan Daumwriter
Gerald EarlyWashington University-St. Louis
Jeffrey Eugenideswriter
Dexter Filkins
Federico FinchelsteinThe New School
Caitlin Flanagan
Richard T. FordStanford Law School
Kmele Foster
David Frumjournalist
Francis FukuyamaStanford University
Atul GawandeHarvard University
Todd GitlinColumbia University
Kim Ghattas
Malcolm Gladwell
Michelle Goldbergcolumnist
Rebecca Goldsteinwriter
Anthony GraftonPrinceton University
David GreenbergRutgers University
Linda Greenhouse
Rinne B. Groffplaywright
Sarah Haideractivist
Jonathan HaidtNYU-Stern
Roya Hakakianwriter
Shadi HamidBrookings Institution
Jeet HeerThe Nation
Katie Herzogpodcast host
Susannah HeschelDartmouth College
Adam Hochschildauthor
Arlie Russell Hochschildauthor
Eva Hoffmanwriter
Coleman Hugheswriter/Manhattan Institute
Hussein IbishArab Gulf States Institute
Michael Ignatieff
Zaid Jilanijournalist
Bill T. JonesNew York Live Arts
Wendy Kaminerwriter
Matthew KarpPrinceton University
Garry KasparovRenew Democracy Initiative
Daniel Kehlmannwriter
Randall Kennedy
Khaled Khalifawriter
Parag Khannaauthor
Laura KipnisNorthwestern University
Frances KisslingCenter for Health, Ethics, Social Policy
Enrique Krauzehistorian
Anthony KronmanYale University
Joy LadinYeshiva University
Nicholas LemannColumbia University
Mark LillaColumbia University
Susie LinfieldNew York University
Damon Linkerwriter
Dahlia LithwickSlateSteven LukesNew York University
John R. MacArthurpublisher, writer
Susan Madrakwriter
Phoebe Maltz Bovy
writer
Greil Marcus
Wynton MarsalisJazz at Lincoln Center
Kati Martonauthor
Debra Mashekscholar
Deirdre McCloskeyUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
John McWhorterColumbia University
Uday MehtaCity University of New York
Andrew MoravcsikPrinceton University
Yascha MounkPersuasion
Samuel MoynYale UniversityMeera Nandawriter and teacher
Cary NelsonUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Olivia NuzziNew York Magazine
Mark OppenheimerYale University
Dael Orlandersmithwriter/performer
George Packer
Nell Irvin PainterPrinceton University (emerita)
Greg PardloRutgers University – Camden
Orlando PattersonHarvard University
Steven PinkerHarvard University
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Katha Pollitt
writer
Claire Bond PotterThe New School
Taufiq Rahim
Zia Haider Rahmanwriter
Jennifer Ratner-RosenhagenUniversity of Wisconsin
Jonathan RauchBrookings Institution/The Atlantic
Neil Robertspolitical theorist
Melvin RogersBrown University
Kat Rosenfieldwriter
Loretta J. RossSmith College
J.K. Rowling
Salman RushdieNew York University
Karim SadjadpourCarnegie Endowment
Daryl Michael ScottHoward University
Diana Senechalteacher and writer
Jennifer Seniorcolumnist
Judith Shulevitzwriter
Jesse Singaljournalist
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Andrew Solomonwriter
Deborah Solomoncritic and biographer
Allison StangerMiddlebury College
Paul StarrAmerican Prospect/Princeton University
Wendell Steavensonwriter
Gloria Steinemwriter and activist
Nadine StrossenNew York Law School
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr.Harvard Law School
Kian TajbakhshColumbia University
Zephyr TeachoutFordham University
Cynthia TuckerUniversity of South Alabama
Adaner UsmaniHarvard University
Chloe Valdary
Helen VendlerHarvard University
Judy B. Walzer
Michael Walzer
Eric K. Washingtonhistorian
Caroline Weberhistorian
Randi WeingartenAmerican Federation of Teachers
Bari Weiss
Sean WilentzPrinceton University
Garry Wills
Thomas Chatterton Williamswriter
Robert F. Worthjournalist and author
Molly WorthenUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Matthew Yglesias
Emily Yoffejournalist
Cathy Youngjournalist
Fareed Zakaria

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