Metaeugenics and Metaresistance: From Manufacturing the ‘Includeable Body’ to Walking Away from the Broom Closet

Abstract

<jats:p>The governance of rights is a complex project of exercising ethical discretion in a systemically unethical society. This paper troubles the efficacy of rights as governable by exposing tensions within and between the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Grounded in a critical disability studies perspective, I question the possibility of respecting disability as a natural part of human diversity while simultaneously proposing that disabled children have a right to intervention. Who governs the definition of “health”, of “development”, of “access”, or of “best interests”? I interrogate the function of rights-based discourses in a global culture that has yet to fully abandon the project of eugenics. I present disturbing relations between researcher and subject in case studies of wearable technologies for autism intervention as a challenging site of analysis for the ethics of these interventions. I call us to question who truly benefits when we engage in the production of ‘includable bodies’ rather than the deconstruction of exclusionary environments.</jats:p>

Algorithmic harms and digital ageism in the use of surveillance technologies in nursing homes

“…As an example, the growing interest in surveillance technologies and AI within health and rehabilitation sectors to "normalize, reprogram, or extinguish autistic traits" is a form "tech-saviorism" that reflects eugenic logics (Williams and Gilbert, 2020, p. 4). These technologies are used to classify and predict behavior for the purpose of coding, analysis, and interventions aimed at modifying the behaviors of autistic individuals (Williams, 2019;Williams and Gilbert, 2020). Rather than addressing the structural causes of "challenging behaviors, " including emotional or sensory distress from being forced to conform to neurotypical ideals, these technologies reproduce ableism by centering ability as the main goal of disability design and prioritizing the interests of caregivers and corporations (Shew, 2020).…”

“…What can thinking with insights from these fields addressing algorithmic harms do for gerontology? The concept of an interventional approach from disability studies (Davis, 2003;Hamraie and Fritsch, 2019;Williams, 2019;Shew, 2020) is already partially embedded in the STS-oriented subfield of socio-gerontechnology where a critique of an "interventionist logic" that dominates gerontechnology has been developed (Neven and Peine, 2017;Peine and Neven, 2018). By naming the interventionist logic, Neven and Peine (2017) and Peine and Neven (2018) make explicit some theoretical assumptions that have long been implicit in the design and research of technologies for older adults.…”

How To Get A Story Wrong: Technoableism, Simulation, and Cyborg Resistance

“…The interventional approach is so naturalized that to not intervene is regarded as synonymous with causing harm. (Williams 2019) Here they point clearly to the logic guiding interventional approaches as metaeugenics.…”

Imagining a Neuroqueer Technoscience

“…By using the term curative violence I am referring to Eunjung Kim's (2017) theorization that rehabilitative technology is used to practice 7 Applied Behavioural analysis (ABA) refers to a series of therapies intended to "improve" socially significant behaviours such as speech and embodiment. Many autistic and neurodivergent self-advocates have criticized ABA's punitive and rehabilitative approaches (see Bascomb, 2011;Brown, 2020;Sequenzia, 2015;Williams, 2019;Yergeau, 2018). cure, rehabilitation, and progress, while presenting disability as an obstacle to national identity building.…”

“…Rua M. Williams (2019) proposes a similar critique through their concept of metaeugenics in so-called "assistive" technology for autistic children. They explain that metaeugenics are a subtle yet violent network of power that are deployed in the justification of curative, normalizing therapies for… deviance.…”