The present cartoon affair has opened debate on redefining the tradition of liberalism, how it is being adopted in present day globalizing and multicultural circumstances. Freedom of speech and freedom of press have become core issues in the conflict which has challenged media practitioners and scholars to take position in different political and cultural contexts. In this sense the rhetoric on free speech is just not confined to academics but has come on political plain also. The issue of roles and responsibilities of media in the context of power to publish is equally debatable in a world where power is not equally distributed. This session aims to focus on how meta narratives of freedom of speech and freedom to publish is making distinctions between ‘our’ position on freedom of speech as the primary value to be defended, against ‘others’ who disagree with ‘our’ dominant understanding.

• Freedom to speech and freedom to publish
• Narrative of liberal fundamentalists
• Free speech- a global or local value
• Dialogical multiculturalism
• Free speech – a means of transcending differences
• Freedom of  press as a means of dialogical multiculturalism
• Freedom of the press and plurality of voice?
• Political economy of secular liberalism