Silently Silenced

After reading Silently Silenced you will never view the ways of government in quite the same light again. A must-read for all people who are interested in democratic processes particularly in relation to criminology, sociology or the law.

This is the first English edition of a work that has also appeared in Norwegian, Swedish and German - and that has been updated by the author to include September 11 and other contemporary developments. A central theme of Silently Silenced is that there exist 'numerous silent, suave and imperceptible methods and processes of silencing opposition which are structural, do not have clear-cut limits but are subtly unbounded, they absorb opposition, they are the methods and processes of everyday life brought into the political realm'.

As Mathiesen points out, it is 'disturbingly clear how easily and imperceptibly we are transformed into acquiescent human beings'. Silently Silenced concludes with a quest for a 'revitalisation' of opposition and critique.

Thomas Mathiesen is Professor of the Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo - and his many books include the acclaimed Waterside Press publication Prison On Trial.