Free Speech from Left to Right: Exploring how Liberals and Conservatives Conceptualize Speech Rights through the Works of Lenny Bruce and Milo Yiannopoulos

Abstract

This article examines how liberals and conservatives conceptualize free speech by analyzing the works of Lenny Bruce and Milo Yiannopoulos. I find that conservatives and liberals have very different conceptions of what a legitimate citizen is, and this shapes their support for free speech claims. Liberals see rights as a mechanism for protecting minority groups; as such, they support speech claims when they are advanced by dissidents challenging entrenched hierarchies. In contrast, conservatives see law as beholden to the will of the majority; thus, they support speech claims when they are seen as challenging the power of subversive elites.