America values dissent. It tolerates, encourages, and protects it. But what is this thing we value? That is a question never asked. “Dissent” is treated as a known fact. For all that has been said about dissent – in books, articles, judicial opinions, and popular culture – it is remarkable that no one has devoted much, if any, ink to explaining what dissent is.

On Dissent is a groundbreaking and discerning work that sheds significant light on the meaning of dissent—not merely why America values it, but also what it is. Leading legal experts Ronald K. L. Collins and David M. Skover talk to leading public intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, and Martha Nussbaum in order to examine the concept for its philosophical, linguistic, legal, and cultural meanings.