Epilogue

Summary

As I was editing this manuscript, a group of students in South Korea initiated a series of mass protests in that country. What began as a reaction to a proposal to import beef from the United States was soon transformed into a more generalized demonstration of public dissatisfaction with government policies. Citizens from all walks of life soon joined the students in sustained public demonstrations. The images of tens of thousands of people in the streets concerned and humbled South Korea's president. In response to the mass displays, several members of the president's cabinet resigned and import policies were revised. Similarly, recent public displays in Myanmar, Pakistan, and elsewhere have profoundly affected public debate and public policy across the globe.

So much attention is focused on cyber-spaces and various forms of “virtual” expression that we tend to forget the power of such physical expression and contention. There is no question that in America, as elsewhere in the world, expressive activity has migrated in vast quantities from traditional “meatspaces” or physical forums to online forums like weblogs and social networking sites. The form and indeed the very meaning of First Amendment liberties – “speech,” “press,” “petition,” and “assembly” – is changing in ways we are only now beginning to appreciate.

These developments have not altered the basic fact that people continue to rely upon more traditional forms of expression and expressive forums.