Parking Lot Construction: As part of our ongoing work to maintain and improve Central Library, the parking lot will be closed for construction from Tuesday, July 28, to Saturday, August 1. Visit the Central Library page for more details. 

CLOSURE: Central Library will be closed Tuesday, July 21, through Saturday, July 25, while emergency repairs are made to the building’s cooling system. We expect to reopen Monday, July 27.

Notice of Public Meeting: Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees | July 27 | 5:30 pm | Central Library/Van Deusen Room. The packet of information for the meeting can be found on the library’s website. 

Book

Empire of normality : neurodiversity and capitalism

Call Number

  • 303.484 C4668 (CEN)

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Publication Information

London ; Las Vegas, NV : Pluto Press, 2023.

Physical Description

xi, 204 pages ; 22 cm

Summary

Beyond simplistic narratives of normativity and difference, this book exposes the very myth of the 'normal' brain as a product of intensified capitalism. Exploring the histories of the neurodiversity and disability movements, 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. The author contends that neurodivergent liberation is possible - but only by challenging the deepest logics of capitalism. This volume is a guide to understanding the systems that shape our bodies, minds and deepest selves - and how we can undo them. --Adapted from publisher's description.

Contents

  • Rise of the machines
  • The invention of normality
  • Galton's paradigm
  • The eugenics movement
  • The myths of anti-psychiatry
  • Fordist normalisation
  • The return of Galtonian psychiatry
  • Post-Fordism as a mass disabling event
  • The neurodiversity movement
  • Cognitive contradictions
  • After normality.

Subjects