Robert Chapman (philosopher)

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Robert Chapman
Born1989 or 1990
Academic background
Education University of Essex (Ph.D., 2018)
Thesis Autism, Neurodiversity, and the Good Life: On the very possibility of autistic thriving

Robert Chapman is an English philosopher, teacher and writer, best known for their work on neurodiversity studies and the philosophy of disability. They are the first assistant professor of critical neurodiversity studies, and as of 2024, work at the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University.

Contents

Early life and education

Chapman was born in 1989 or 1990. During their childhood, they lived in low-income housing in London and, later, elsewhere in England. They struggled with learning problems and dropped out of school at age 15. After living with friends, Chapman became homeless for a time. Due to struggling outside in winter conditions, Chapman entered the foster care system. [1] [ non-primary source needed ]

During the 2000s, Chapman studied philosophy at the University of Southampton. In 2013, after learning they are autistic, they completed their master's degree and began their doctorate at the University of Essex with a focus on neurodiversity as a theory, developing a concept of autistic thriving. In 2018, they defended their thesis, [2] [3] Autism, Neurodiversity and the Good Life, which was funded by the Shirley Foundation. [4]

Career

Chapman has worked at the University of Bristol, King's College London, the University of Essex, and Sheffield Hallam University. In 2023, they were invited as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. [3] [5] In September of that year, they joined the Institute for Medical Humanities at Durham University as an assistant professor of Critical Neurodiversity Studies. [3]

Prior to obtaining their doctorate, Chapman worked in a number of manual labor and factory jobs.[ citation needed ] Following their doctorate, they worked at Bristol University as a temporary lecturer, then as a research fellow. From 2019 to 2021, they were a Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, where they studied neurodiversity and well-being. [3] [5] Since 2021, Chapman then served as a senior lecturer in education at Sheffield Hallam University. [2] In 2023, they became world's first assistant professor of critical neurodiversity studies, at Durham University. [6] [7] Outside of academic activity, Chapman has also written articles for Psychology Today [8] and Boston Review. [9]

In 2023, Chapman published their first book, Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism, which focuses on developing a Marxist perspective on neurodiversity. [10]

Positions

Neurodiversity

Chapman defines the neurodiversity movement as a social justice movement that aims to change the way mental disability and neurodevelopmental conditions are observed with the goal of being perceived in a socio-ecological approach to disability. [11] They make frequent references to authors such as Nick Walker and Judy Singer and those authors' proposals for conceptualizing neurodiversity. [2] [11] Chapman argues that, historically, neurodiversity as a movement has had a political approach based on identity, which, from their perspective, is a liberal view.

Chapman argues that the correct interpretation of the concept of neurodiversity contributes to the further development of its theoretical and practical side, and that its multiple definitions are evolving over time. [12] Much of their work has been on the fundamental concepts of neurodiversity as they pertain to philosophy of science, most notably their development of an ecological model of mental functioning [13] and analysis of the metaphysics of diagnosis. They have also discussed the relationship of neurodiversity to explanatory models of disability, such as the social model of disability and the value-neutral model proposed by philosopher Elizabeth Barnes. [14]

Gerald Roche has argued that Chapman's definition of neurodivergent Marxism is “an intersectional approach to analysing how capitalism produces and maintains multiple forms of oppression, to ensure that new sites of extraction can be constantly identified and exploited in the endless pursuit of capital accumulation.” [15] Awais Aftab has said that Chapman's work “has had a substantial impact on my own thinking, and their writings have consistently forced me, and many others, to rethink long-standing assumptions related to pathology and medical care.” [11] Julie Dind stated in a review of the book Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm, which included Chapman's writings, that one of their essays successfully challenges the tragic perspective on autism promoted by medicine. [16] In 2023, Tiago Abreu argued that Chapman's work manages to provide an effective state-of-the-art and historical contextualization of neurodiversity. [17]

Psychiatry

In various articles and especially in their book Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism, Chapman has criticized how psychiatrists and the field of psychiatry deal with the issue of mental health and disability. In this book, they build on existing work that urges the need for alternatives to psychiatry and clinical psychology, led by and for neurodivergent people alongside those who identify as mad, psychiatric survivors, and disabled. They also note radical psychiatrists who have influenced their approach, such as Franco Basaglia and Franz Fanon.

Chapman has also critiqued the libertarian right Szaszian tradition, which follows the work of Thomas Szasz, in anti-psychiatry and critical psychiatry. In 2022, Chapman said that “a lot of critical psychiatry today is about emphasizing how people with mental health diagnoses are not 'really' disabled–not like 'really' disabled people–because mental health is a political issue rather than a medical issue. For me, however, all issues concerning health and disability are political issues; so, that is a false binary". [18] [2] Chapman has also emphasized how Szasz saw himself as a proponent of Hayekian neoliberalism.

John Cromby, for Mad in the UK, responded critically to Chapman's approach in Empire of Normality, arguing that the work “misrepresents antipsychiatry” in terms of historical context and use of the term, and argued that it “tends towards idealism.” [19] Sam Fellowes for Philosophy of Medicine described Chapman's discussion of anti-psychiatry as “nuanced and helpful”, providing a balanced view of anti-psychiatry which distinguishes between different ideologies in the tradition, and acknowledges that even those the author opposes raised important issues. [20]

Personal life

Chapman is non-binary [2] and uses they/them pronouns. [21]

Books

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Chapman, Robert (2023). Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism. Pluto Press.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Tremain, Shelley (16 November 2022). "Dialogues on Disability: Shelley Tremain Interviews Robert Chapman". Biopolitical Philosophy. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Welcoming Robert Chapman". Durham University . 21 September 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Aftab, Awais (24 September 2021). "The Neurodiversity Paradigm in Psychiatry: Robert Chapman, PhD". Psychiatric Times . Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  5. 1 2 Sarah (3 November 2020). "You're creating space for research". University of Bristol . Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Who coined the term 'neurodiversity?' It wasn't Judy Singer, some autistic academics say". 19th News . 23 April 2024. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Funding to neurodiversify academia". Durham University . 31 October 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Neurodiversity Paradigm in Psychiatry: Robert Chapman, PhD". Psychiatric Times . 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Chapman, Robert. "The Future of Neurodiversity". Boston Review.
  10. ↑ "Livro sobre neurodiversidade e capitalismo é lançado". Canal Autismo. 19 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 "The Neurodiversity Paradigm in Psychiatry: Robert Chapman, PhD". Psychiatric Times . 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Chapman, Robert (2020). "Defining neurodiversity for research and practice". Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm. Routledge. pp. 218–220. doi:10.4324/9780429322297-21. ISBN   978-0-429-32229-7.
  13. ↑ Chapman, Robert (November 2021). "Neurodiversity and the Social Ecology of Mental Functions". Perspectives on Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science. 16 (6): 1360–1372. doi:10.1177/1745691620959833. ISSN   1745-6924. PMID   33577400.
  14. ↑ Abreu, Tiago (2022). O que é neurodiversidade?. Goiânia: Cânone Editorial. p. 52. ISBN   9786588321096.
  15. ↑ "Empire of Normality – review". Red Pepper. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  16. ↑ Dind, Julie (2021). "Review of: Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Hanna, et al., editors. Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm. Routledge, 2020". Disability Studies Quarterly. doi:10.1177/13623613231181477.
  17. ↑ "Introvertendo 257 - As Vertentes da Neurodiversidade". Introvertendo . 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "Robert Chapman: 'Todas as questões relativas à saúde e deficiência são questões políticas'". Canal Autismo. 17 November 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  19. ↑ ""Empire of Normality: neurodiversity and capitalism" a review: The Empire Has No Clothes". Mad in the UK. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  20. ↑ Fellowes, Sam (9 May 2024). "Neurodiversity, Liberal Capitalism, and Self-Understanding: A Review of Robert Chapman's Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism". Philosophy of Medicine. 5 (1). doi: 10.5195/pom.2024.201 . ISSN   2692-3963.
  21. ↑ Chapman, Robert. "Robert Chapman". ResearchGate . Retrieved 1 May 2024. If you cite my work please bear in mind I use they/them pronouns.
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