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'Groundbreaking ... [provides] a deep history of the invention of the 'normal' mind as one of the most oppressive tools of capitalism. To read it is to see the world more clearly' Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes
Neurodiversity is on the rise. Awareness and diagnoses have exploded in recent years, but we are still missing a wider understanding of how we got here and why. Beyond simplistic narratives of normativity and difference, this groundbreaking book exposes the very myth of the 'normal' brain as a product of intensified capitalism.
Exploring the rich histories of the neurodiversity and disability movements, Robert Chapman shows how the rise of capitalism created an 'empire of normality' that transformed our understanding of the body into that of a productivity machine.
Neurodivergent liberation is possible - but only by challenging the deepest logics of capitalism. Empire of Normality is an essential guide to understanding the systems that shape our bodies, minds and deepest selves - and how we can undo them.
Preface
Introduction
1 Rise of the machines
2 The invention of normality
3 Galton’s paradigm
4 The eugenics movement
5 The myths of anti-psychiatry
6 Fordist normalisation
7 The return of Galtonian psychiatry
8 Post-Fordism as a mass disabling event
9 The neurodiversity movement
10 Cognitive contradictions
11 After normality
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Description
'Groundbreaking ... [provides] a deep history of the invention of the 'normal' mind as one of the most oppressive tools of capitalism. To read it is to see the world more clearly' Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes
Neurodiversity is on the rise. Awareness and diagnoses have exploded in recent years, but we are still missing a wider understanding of how we got here and why. Beyond simplistic narratives of normativity and difference, this groundbreaking book exposes the very myth of the 'normal' brain as a product of intensified capitalism.
Exploring the rich histories of the neurodiversity and disability movements, Robert Chapman shows how the rise of capitalism created an 'empire of normality' that transformed our understanding of the body into that of a productivity machine.
Neurodivergent liberation is possible - but only by challenging the deepest logics of capitalism. Empire of Normality is an essential guide to understanding the systems that shape our bodies, minds and deepest selves - and how we can undo them.
