Nat reviewed Empire of Normality by Robert Chapman
A strong albeit broad exposition of capitalism as it relates to neuronormativity
4 stars
I'll third other reviewers in saying that this book is great, though the end falls off a little.
Broadly, the book covers the history of the eugenics movement (particularly, the history of psychology, how it evolved into eugenics, and then into what we know today as psychology). This part Chapman does really well; there's a lot of very thought provoking connections he draws, and I feel I've learned a lot from it.
In the more brief, latter half, Chapman draws on a lot of work in the development of the neurodivergent movement to make a case for what he calls neurodivergent Marxism, which (very generally) proposes a more revolutionary approach to neurodiverse liberation—namely, one he believes and I agree won't come under the liberal rights framework we've traditionally sought to improve our material conditions under. If you've been exposed to Marxist thought and are neurodivergent, this probably won't feel new …
I'll third other reviewers in saying that this book is great, though the end falls off a little.
Broadly, the book covers the history of the eugenics movement (particularly, the history of psychology, how it evolved into eugenics, and then into what we know today as psychology). This part Chapman does really well; there's a lot of very thought provoking connections he draws, and I feel I've learned a lot from it.
In the more brief, latter half, Chapman draws on a lot of work in the development of the neurodivergent movement to make a case for what he calls neurodivergent Marxism, which (very generally) proposes a more revolutionary approach to neurodiverse liberation—namely, one he believes and I agree won't come under the liberal rights framework we've traditionally sought to improve our material conditions under. If you've been exposed to Marxist thought and are neurodivergent, this probably won't feel new to you, but it is at the very least compelling.
I get the feeling a lot of the value many would get out of this book would be the way it puts language to things you might have once had a hard time talking about, or even really conceptualizing. I know I felt heard reading Empire of Normality, and that in and of itself is really valuable
