War on Autism
On the Cultural Logic of Normative Violence
Format:Hardback
Publisher:The University of Michigan Press
Published:28th Apr '16
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This insightful exploration of autism examines its cultural implications, challenging the view of it as merely a biomedical issue. War on Autism offers a fresh perspective.
In War on Autism, Anne McGuire challenges the prevailing view of autism as merely a biomedical disorder necessitating treatment or cure. She argues that this perspective overlooks the complex cultural and historical dimensions of autism, framing it as a significant phenomenon shaped by power dynamics within a neoliberal context. By examining autism through various interpretive lenses, including critical disability studies and cultural studies, the book reveals how contemporary discourses around autism are constructed and disseminated within advocacy circles.
McGuire highlights the ways in which autism is often reduced to a series of alarming statistics and simplistic narratives. In the realm of autism advocacy, the term 'autism' frequently serves as shorthand, stripped of its nuanced meanings. This reductionist approach manifests in awareness campaigns that present autism as a series of 'red flags' and in policy reports that emphasize worrisome data. Such representations contribute to a cultural understanding that frames autism as a pathological threat, necessitating intervention and elimination.
Ultimately, War on Autism calls for a re-examination of the role of autism advocates. McGuire posits that the dominant advocacy narrative positions the 'good' advocate as one who stands in opposition to autism. By unpacking these dynamics, the book invites readers to reconsider the implications of such framing and to explore more inclusive and holistic understandings of autism that recognize its diverse meanings and experiences.
“A comprehensive treatise on the social, political, and discursive constitution of the conceptual object called ‘autism’ which considers a broad range of arguments, artifacts, and events and does so in a series of lively and provocative challenges to accepted understandings of this relatively recent phenomenon. The book will be a terrific addition to the growing supply of disability scholarship that draws upon Foucault’s insights.”
— Shelley Tremain, author of Foucault and the Government of Disability
“McGuire’s multi-pronged, critical analysis of modern-day autism advocacy will profoundly impact the field of Disability Studies....”
— Melanie Yergeau, University of Michigan
"McGuire’s book is a valuable contribution to critical disability studies and bioethics for several reasons. The key contribution is McGuire’s excellent critique of autism advocacy, which successfully demonstrates that any advocacy failing to advocate for autistic people is complicit in their marginalisation and in the normalisation of the violence committed against them."
--Somatechnic
¨This is one of the more interesting titles written about autism in recent years.¨
--Choice Reviews
"Noting that mainstream 'advocacy' so often seems to elide or ignore the very people it claims to be helping, McGuire also points out the extensive work autistic activists have done to push back against this damage and situates War on Autism as a text that might further unpack the violence of certain rhetorical approaches to autism."
--Disability Studies Quarterly
"Anne McGuire’s War on Autism is an astute, searing analysis of autism, and autism advocacy. The book is a deeply unsettling and convincing portrayal of the complicity of contemporary western culture, and the role that culture plays in the violence done to autistic people."
--Disability & Society
Winner: 2015 Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities
* Tobin Siebers PriISBN: 9780472073122
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
274 pages