Princeton University Press has acquired We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity by Dr. Chantelle Jessica Lewis & Professor Jason Arday. World rights were acquired from Aevitas Creative Management by Rebecca Brennan, Senior Editor for Social Sciences in Europe. Brennan joined PUP from Routledge in 2022 and is swiftly building a broadly interdisciplinary list of trade and scholarly books across the social sciences.
We See Things They’ll Never See is a book about how we can imagine social justice for everyone through the creative and innovative possibilities of both the politics of neurodiversity and disability justice. By shining a light on theirs and others experiences of being both Black and neurodivergent, Lewis and Arday bring into focus how an analysis on disability, race and class in tandem presents opportunities for society to intentionally adopt cultures of love, care and solidarity across all aspects of social life. Readers can expect a critical, careful and personal narrative commentary on work, education, and social life to stress the urgency to dismantle the normalization of neurotypical hegemony.
Lewis & Arday note: “We are delighted that Princeton University Press will be publishing our sociological reflections on neurodiversity, informed by scholarship which centres love and hope. It is a privilege for us to make a contribution to the global movement and long tradition of disability activists seeking to find innovative ways to make the world a more equitable place. Nothing about us, without us.”
Brennan comments: “I am thrilled to be working with Chantelle and Jason on We See Things They’ll Never See, which will be a hugely important book exploring how the experiences and reflections of the neurodiverse and Black community can help to make the world a more equitable and inclusive place for everyone.”
Gates adds: “In We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity, Chantelle J. Lewis & Jason Arday shed important light on how a racialized world that rewards neurotypicality deeply affects those who think and process differently, their loved ones and their communities. This groundbreaking new book broadens our understanding of how we can create spaces of belonging where people of all neurological backgrounds can flourish and where lasting pathways for disability justice, racial justice and social justice can be forged.”
Dr. Chantelle Jessica Lewis is the Andrew Pitt Research Fellow in Black British Studies at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. She is a public sociologist and a radio academy award nominated broadcaster (ARIAS) for the most popular sociology podcast in the United Kingdom, Surviving Society podcast. Dr. Lewis’s research is situated at the intersections of socio-historical analysis; politics, Black feminism, family studies and racism studies.
Jason Arday is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge and holds Visiting Professorships at The Ohio State University, University of Glasgow, Durham University and Nelson Mandela University. Professor Arday is a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading race equality think tank and the British Sociological Association (BSA). He serves on the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) National Advisory Panel and the NHS Race and Health Observatory Academic Reference Group and is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). Professor Arday has written for and spoken on issues of race and racism in education and society to The Guardian, Sky News, and flagship BBC Programs, among other outlets.
We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity is slated to publish in 2025.