The Maternal Body as Environment in Autism Science

• In Event: 034 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Paper Session. Bodies and Sexualities in Science and Technology Studies (co-sponsored by the Section on Body and Embodiment)

Abstract

This article documents how the maternal body has become a site of increasing attention in contemporary science related to autism and the environment. Drawing on a multi-sited ethnography of autism research, analysis of popular media and scientific publications, and interviews with advocates, funders, and scientists conducted from 2007-2012 in the United States, I argue that ‘the maternal body as environment’ has emerged as central to understandings of autism risk in recent decades. This article describes the emergence of autism environmental science and its relationships to cultural narratives related to autism risk and gendered responsibilities for health. I specifically trace how ‘the environment’ is being taken up and located in relationship to women’s bodies and fetal health since the turn of the twenty-first century. Using literature in the sociology of science, health, and medicine, I critically examine how autism science constructs ‘the maternal body as environment’ and the potential consequences this may have for conceptualizations of the environment, the body, and women’s responsibilities for the health of future generations.

Author

• Martine Danielle Lappe, University of California-Los Angeles