Branding Neurodiversity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Communicative Capitalism and Change Empowerment Among Neurodiversity Workforce Intermediaries

Scott E. Branton · Astrid M. Villamil · Joel Lansing Reed

29 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Public Relations Research

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Public Relations and Crisis Communication Disability Rights and Representation Disability Education and Employment

Abstract

This study explores the critical nexus of communicative capitalism, neurodiverse employment, and DEI in public relations research. Through a critical discourse analysis of the owned and shared media of 13 neurodiversity workforce intermediaries (NWIs), we investigate how NWIs brand neurodiversity and their relationships with their publics against the backdrop of communicative capitalism. Our analysis unearthed power-laden tensions in traditional and novel brandings of neurodiversity, as well as ambivalent orientations that concurrently advocate for social change and economic productivity. We argue that attempts at change empowerment are short circuited by capitalist logics that value only those narrow elements of neurodiversity that fit within a business case for diversity.

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References

1996Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach 2005The SAGE handbook of qualitative research 2011The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research 1 2002Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication 2001Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication 2011Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis 2013Critical Discourse Analysis 2013The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis

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2025Neurodiversity: A scoping review of empirical research 2025When Neurodiversity and Ethnicity Combine: Intersectional Stereotyping and Workplace Experiences of Neurodivergent Ethnic Minority Employees 2025Strategists, Advocates, and Storytellers: The Role of Public Relations in Driving Organizations’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

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