In this episode, Saul Albert introduces a feature interview with Doug Maynard and Jason Turowetz, co-authors of an exciting new book entitled Autistic Intelligence, published in summer 2022 by the University of Chicago Press.
Doug Maynard is Emeritus Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His ethnomethodological and conversation analytic work has explored fundamental structures of everyday topical talk and news delivery, alongside his foundational applied research on institutional forms of talk such as, e.g., plea bargaining in legal settings, and on the use of research instruments such as surveys, diagnostic interviews.
Jason Turowetz is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Siegen. His research addresses questions of meaning, interaction, and identity in social theory, communication, and cultural sociology, specifically focusing on the experiences of people in socially marginal identities, and on themes of power, resistance and moral decision making in interaction. His groundbreaking work at the Garfinkel Archive has been uncovering new lineages within and connections between ethnomethodology, philosophy, and social theory.
A great deal more could be said about each of their individual research, but in this interview the focus is on their new book – Autistic Intelligence, and on their collaboration. Alongside their methodological contributions connecting ethnomethodology, social theory, and phenomenology, they have collaborated on a rich collection of applied EM/CA publications focusing on the interactional practices associated with autism spectrum disorder and the sociology of diagnosis, including explorations of sequential, narrative, and categorical structures, diagnostic processes, and the social production of medical records.