The neurodiversity movement has been called the newest civil rights movement. Neurodiversity activists have shaped policies, advocated in the workplace and on campuses, and introduced new global norms. And yet, the topic is largely absent from political science research and teaching.
This workshop aims to bring together scholars working in this emerging field, as well as related topics such as disability, mental health policy, and intersectionality. The workshop welcomes agenda-setting and conceptual articles as well as empirical ones. An additional aim is to develop a network of scholars and advocates. Disabled and/or neurodivergent scholars are particularly encouraged to participate.
The neurodiversity paradigm holds that there is no “normal” type of mind, and the neurodiversity movement takes this as a foundation in its struggle for equality (Dwyer 2022). Neurodivergent people—such as autistic, ADHD, and dyslexic people, among many others—are marginalized in ways that intersect with gender, race, class, and more. Self-advocacy organizations fight for policy change in labor markets, human rights, the welfare state, and beyond. The central claim of the neurodiversity movement is that ‘neurominorities’ are marginalized by societies not designed for them (Walker 2014). The goal is to transform norms, institutions, policies and structures. But how, and in what ways? These are clearly political questions, which makes the silence in political science quite surprising.
While this is a new field within political science (cf. Orsini 2012), there are clear links to existing research. The emerging field of neurodiversity studies is embedded in (critical) disability studies, which itself remains disconnected from political science and international relations despite calls to unite them (Stienstra 2002, 2023). Neurodiversity politics can build on existing research on labor markets, welfare states, social movements, gender mainstreaming in organizations, norm diffusion, and more. Neurodiversity and disability are tied up with global politics, too. For example, disabled asylum seekers are at high risk due to ‘ablenationalist’ discrimination (Loyd et al. 2023), and daily struggles can be compounded in contexts of poverty and insecurity. This workshop remains open to a wide range of possible trajectories within political science, and also seeks to open transdisciplinary dialogues.
Dwyer, P. (2022). The neurodiversity approach(es): What are they and what do they mean for researchers? Human Development, 66(2): 73-92.
Loyd, M., Secor, A., & Ehrkamp, P. (2023): Geopolitics of Disability and the Ablenationalism of Refuge, Geopolitics, DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2023.2185139
Orsini, M. (2012) Autism, Neurodiversity and the Welfare State: The Challenges of Accommodating Neurological Difference, Canadian Journal of Political Science, 45(4): 805-827.
Stienstra, D. (2002) DisAbling Globalisation: Rethinking Global Political Economy with a Disability Lens, Global Society, 16(2): 109-121.
Stienstra, D. (2023) (Th)reading Rights and Justice: Women and Girls with Disabilities, Global Society, 37(3): 354-374.
Walker, N. (2014). Neurodiversity: Some basic terms and definitions. Available at: https://neurocosmopolitanism.com/neurodiversity-some-basic-terms definitions/
1: How and to what extent has the neurodiversity paradigm diffused globally?
2: To what extent has the neurodiversity paradigm been ‘mainstreamed’ in governments and organizations?
3: What are the structural, institutional, and ideational underpinnings of (invisible) disablement?
4: What kinds of ethical, epistemological and methodological considerations are needed in neurodiversity research?
5: How can neurodiversity politics and invisible disability be grounded in Global South contexts?
1: Social movement dynamics of the neurodiversity movement and/or disability rights movement
2: Bringing neurodiversity concepts into political science or political economy theoretical frameworks
3: (Critical) political economy perspectives on material and ideational underpinnings of disablement
4: The roles of international organizations in the global governance of neurodiversity-related policies
5: The politics of expertise in neurodiversity and disability policymaking and global governance
6: Issue linkages between neurodiversity/disability and other issue areas, such as climate change
7: The intersectionality of neurodiversity and race, class, gender, and other forms of marginalization
8: Pedagogical interventions on bringing neurodiversity and disability into political science teaching
