This is Part 2 of the four-part series on neurodiversity that is being jointly published by Mad in America and Mad in the UK. The series was edited by Mad in the UK editors, and authored by John Cromby and Lucy Johnstone. Part 2 was originally published on July 22, 2024.
The unacknowledged politics of neurodiversity
In the previous blog, we attempted a broad overview of the recent and rapidly-expanding field of neurodiversity, and outlined some of its key principles, challenges and contradictions. In this blog, we will look more closely at the experiences most frequently seen as examples of neurodiversity—those that are given the label of autism/autistic spectrum disorder: ASD; or ADHD; or sometimes both (for which the composite term AuDHD has emerged).
We set the scene by noting that the phenomena we discuss have all arisen within Westernised capitalist societies. Some historians and scholars suggest that this is not a coincidence; the discipline of psychiatry itself, they argue, emerged in response to the need to sweep up people who were casualties of growing industrialisation in the 18th and 19th centuries. Labelling them as ‘ill’ justified warehousing them in asylums, and this helped defuse dissent in the face of massive social changes (see here, here and here).
To recognise this is not to idealise pre-industrial, agrarian societies, or indigenous and non-Western cultures, which have their own characteristic stresses and limitations. Capitalism encourages improved productivity and efficiency, and—together with modern science—fosters innovation and technological development. Many of the ensuing products and technologies, in fields such as transport, sanitation and medicine, represent enormous advances that can potentially improve wellbeing for all.