Robert Chapman
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drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Robert Chapman
@drrobertchapman.bsky.social
7K followers 730 following 790 posts
Socially neurodivergent, fiscally communist philosopher.


They/them.
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drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Labour seems really set on paving the way for fascism.
Cooper suggests asylum seekers being moved out of hotels could be housed in warehouses instead Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has suggested that warehouses could be used to house some of the asylum seekers currently being put up in hotels.
September 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Weird new (AI?) problem for me: accounts posting reviews of my book centred around totally made up quotes that I've not said in the book or anywhere else.
"Normal is not a fact; it is a construct, a story we tell ourselves about who belongs and who does not." This striking line from Robert Chapman’s Empire of Normality captures the essence of a book that challenges everything we think we know about what it means to be "normal." As someone who has often felt like an outsider, this book felt like a revelation—a deeply thoughtful exploration of how societal norms are created, enforced, and resisted. Chapman’s work is not just an academic critique; it’s a call to rethink the ways we define and value human difference.
July 12, 2025 at 8:21 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Some nice news: the Italian translation of Empire of Normality is finally out!
www.mimesisedizioni.it/libro/979122...
Black book cover with a white square in the middle surrounded by yellow and white text.
June 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Breaking: the woefully out of touch British media class has finally discovered the word "edgelord".

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I checked with a few people who are more across the ways of the world than I seem to be these days: my daughters, a neighbour, an on-trend colleague or two. Blank looks all around. “Sounds dirty,” said one of my BBC colleagues.
June 5, 2025 at 5:43 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Gramsci's description of Mussolini makes him sound like Keir Starmer
June 2, 2025 at 8:34 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Malcom X on the difference between white liberals and white conservatives:
The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro's friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political "football game" that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives
May 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Striking how similar the Program of the National Fascist Party (1921) quote below sounds to contemporary neoliberal neurodiversity inclusion stuff.
Guilds must not strive to submerge the individual in the collectivity by arbitrarily leveling his or her abilities and strengths. Rather, they must aim at making good use of and developing them.
May 20, 2025 at 1:36 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Interesting Italian fascist manifesto "the doctrine of fascism" (1932) on how fascism rejects positivism.
Therefore it is a spiritual conception, arising from the general reaction of this century against the flabby and materialistic positivism of the nineteenth century. Anti-positivistic, but positive: not skeptical, nor agnostic, nor pessimistic, nor passively optimistic, as are, in general, the doctrines (all negative) which place the center of life outside man, who by his free will can and must create his own world. Fascism wants man to be active and to engage in action with all his energies; it wants him to be manfully aware of the difficulties that exist and ready to face them. It conceives of life as a struggle, considering that it behooves man to acquire for himself that life truly worthy of him, creating first of all in himself the instrument (physical, moral, intellectual) to construct it. As for the individual, so for the nation, and so for humanity. Hence the high value of culture in all its forms (artistic, religious, scientific) and the great importance of education. Hence also the essential value of work, with which man conquers nature and creates the human world (economic, political, moral, and intellectual).
May 20, 2025 at 1:16 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Thank you Barcelona for discussing the Empire of Normality with me.
Two people sitting on a stage in front of a crowd of people sitting in a dimly lit hall.
May 20, 2025 at 8:57 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
"This government wants everyone to think we're a burden. But we're not a burden. Were the fucking resistance."

Lee from Crips Against Cuts in Newcastle.
A white man sitting in a wheel chair speaking on a microphone in a city square to a crowd of people.
May 16, 2025 at 12:26 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
"warning"
Headline reading "warning as more bristons self-identity as neurodivergent"
May 5, 2025 at 2:40 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Quite revealing and funny quote from a new Reform councillor letting us know that they are all capitalist exploiters who resent paying wages or tax.
Mr Wimble rejected concerns over lack of experience. "All the [candidates] that have been elected have got experience of running their own businesses," he said. "They've had the problems of paying the wages at the end of the month. They've got the problems with the rates and council tax and things like that."
May 5, 2025 at 2:19 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Excited to say that "Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction" written by myself and @suereviews.bsky.social is finally ready to preorder! Afaik the first general academic introduction covering the ND movement, ND studies, and applications of ND theory in practice.

global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Orange blending into green book cover of "neurodiversity: a very short introduction" by Robert Chapman and Sue Fletcher Watson, with this text written in a white font.
May 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
New form of reactionary accelerationism just dropped.
Keir Starmer post reading: Most Prime Ministers would respond to these local elections with the same old excuses. My response is simple: I get it. We're moving in the right direction, but people must feel the benefits of change. I will go further and faster to make that happen.
May 3, 2025 at 8:47 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Really like the cover of the Spanish edition of my book! It will be published by Caja Negra next month. I'll be doing an event at the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona. Link for that below.
cajanegraeditora.com.ar/libros/el-im...
Book cover with red and white block image, El Impreio de la Normalidad by Robert Chapman.
April 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Probably the best thing I saw in the U.S., in a shop window. A (I think) children's book titled "why am i?" along with this little guy.
A children's picture book in a shop window. The title is "why am i?" And next to it is a figure of the character. They look like an alien wearing a beige onesie. Close up face of a strange animal figure wearing a onesie and blue hat.
April 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Arrived in Michigan and the first person I saw when I left my hotel in downtown Rochester is an actual storm trooper.
A stormtrooper waiting to cross the road while cars are driving along in a town centre.
March 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
"denying disabled people our benefits is no more helpful than denying the reality of the mental health epidemic"

Lots of great speeches today in Newcastle from members of Disabled People Against Cuts, Crips Against Cuts, and the People's Assembly.
People protesting in a busy city square in front of a monument.
March 26, 2025 at 3:13 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
The index of Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy is really wonderful. A small sample:
Index listing: Fiery devils, Fire's rage, fish good, fishes in love, fishing Dowling how and when good exercise, flaxen hair a great motive of love, fools often beget wise men, by love become wise, force of imagination, frenzy's description
March 8, 2025 at 8:11 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Apolitical Intellectuals by Otto Rene Castillo

msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/apoli...
One day the apolitical intellectuals of our land will be interrogated by the poorest of people. They will be asked what they did while their community was extinguished, like a sweet fire, small and alone.
March 7, 2025 at 11:29 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Comrades! Now the audiobook's finally out, I have five codes for free audible copies of *Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism*. If you want one just like and share/quote this post. After 48 hours I'll pick five sharers at random to send the codes to.
Audiobook cover, white background with black text reading "Empire of Normality: neurodiversity and capitalism, Robert Chapman, Elliot Fitzpatrick". There is a silhouette of a sideways face, with an image of birds instead of a face.
March 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
New post on the significance of stopping Spectrum 10k.

substack.com/home/post/p-...
Orange background with white text reading: After Spectrum 10k: Neurodiversity and the politics of research funding
February 11, 2025 at 5:24 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
What's the correct Marxist analysis of this development?
judge has let rip at a woman who admitted to sending videos of her breaking wind to her boyfriend’s ex. Rhiannon Evans, 25, is believed to be the first person to ever face charges for cyber-farting over Christmas. She sent the videos to Deborah Prytherech who said the videos caused her distress and anxiety
January 31, 2025 at 7:03 PM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
This week's post is on the Black Panther leader Huey Newton's mental health politics.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Black and white image of Huey Newton, a young Black man with short hair looking determined. White text reads: "Huey P Newton's Mental Health Politics"
January 30, 2025 at 10:13 AM
drrobertchapman.bsky.social
Absolutely incredible book I am reading for the second time already.
Book cover of The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England by Jonathan Healey. The text is in black and white against a red background.
January 29, 2025 at 7:47 PM