Gerald Roche
AuDHD & PhD. anthropology, language, power. he/him
New book: The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501777783/…
ORCiD: 0000-0002-2410-351X
- Yesterday in Australia two autistic children were murdered by their parents. @australia.theguardian.com felt compelled to report that "The family were described on social media as a lovely couple and a good family." Lovely couples don't murder children.
- After I learned (somewhat late in life) that I am autistic, one of the terms I was introduced to in my learning about autism was 'fillicide' - "the killing of one's own child". journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
- The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has recently published an "Anti-Filicde Toolkit" which contains warnings and advice about media reporting on filicide of autistic children. autisticadvocacy.org/anti-filicide/
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View full threadSee also research from the Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub, including this helpful discussion of key facts about filicide. addressingfilicide.org/key-facts/
- Reposted by Gerald Roche"Abolish the Colony" Stencil seen in Meanjin / Brisbane
- Please send recommendations for historical/ political graphic novels that you have enjoyed, if you have them.
- there's a definite link that I'm too lazy to think about between the goofy, absurd, silly quality of British humor and their historical role as violent empire builders and the birthplace of capitalism
- My article 'Five Key Concepts for Autistic Linguistic Justice' is currently the most-read article in the journal Autism in Adulthood. Thanks to everyone who has shown interest in this work - I hope you're finding it helpful. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- Reposted by Gerald Roche「當加薩成千上萬的屍體被炸得粉碎，兒童在瓦礫遍地的街道上餓死時，許多團體正利用這場苦難來推進反猶太主義和伊斯蘭恐懼症等壓迫性議程...他們的做法不僅褻瀆了種族滅絕的受害者，也破壞了國際團結，削弱了左翼應對未來暴行的能力。『我』指的是斯里蘭卡工會成員兼作家羅希尼·亨斯曼（Rohini Hensman）所說的『偽反帝國主義者』（pseudo-anti-imperialists）。他們自詡為左翼人士，卻反對某些形式的帝國主義，同時支持其他形式的帝國主義。具體來說，他們反對美國及其盟友的帝國主義，為了加速帝國的垮台，他們卻支持美國的主要對手──俄羅斯、中國和伊朗的帝國主義。」—Gerald Roche
- Back in 2024, I argued that pseudo-anti-imperialists were exploiting the Gaza genocide to build their support base, which in turn would be mobilized later to enable atrocities elsewhere. positionspolitics.org/gerald-roche...
- Reposted by Gerald Roche"It sustains the idea that some people simply have to be sacrificed on the altar of the common good. Whenever we allow ourselves to be persuaded by passivity propaganda, we therefore not only work against our most important political values – we also put up barriers to our own liberation."
- Last year, I argued that during Trump's second term we should expect to see increased activity from pseudo-anti-imperialists, engaging in what I called 'passivity propaganda'. interregnum.ghost.io/beware-passi...
- Given the ongoing protests in Iran and the US attacks on Venezuela, it seems a good time to once again revisit the idea of "pseudo-anti-imperialism" - the idea that supporting dictators and oppressive regimes is good if undermines the US or even just contributes to a critique of the US.
- I take the term 'pseudo-anti-imperialism' from Rohini Hensman, who has written an excellent account of it in her book "Indefensible: Democracy, Counterrevolution, and the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism" www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1164-i...
- Kavita Krishnan's writing on this topic is also great. For example, in this essay she discusses an increasingly influential idea promoted by pseduo-anti-imperialists - 'multipolarity'. leftrenewal.org/articles-en/...
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View full threadAnd finally, if you want to learn more about actual anti-imperialism that takes a consistent approach to state violence, a good resourc is the website 'People Not States.' peoplenotstates.wordpress.com
- Raciolinguistics in Australia "While White, monolingual children's language learning is consistently celebrated through neoliberal ideologies of competitive advantage & cognitive benefit, racialised children's ...multilingualism is constructed as a deficit, barrier or threat requiring intervention."
- New publication alert! Out article 'Big Impact or No Advantage? Raciolinguistic Framings in Australian Media Coverage of Young People's Multilingualism' is now available in early online view in the Journal of Sociolinguistics @jslx.bsky.social 🧵
- My article on autistic linguistic justice is currently #2 on the list of most-read articles from Autism in Adulthood. It's open access for anyone who wants to read. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- My article 'Five Key Concepts for Autistic Linguistic Justice' is now free to read in @autisminadulthood.bsky.social. For the curious or time poor, here's a short thread on the main ideas. doi.org/10.1177/2573...
- The article builds on the work of autistic activists and researchers who reject deficit views of autistic communication, and instead argue that autistic communication is a difference that should be accommodated. I draw on interdisciplinary work on linguistic justice to explore how to do this.
- The article introduces five different concepts to help autistic people, activists, allies, and researchers think about ways to support autistic people to communicate in ways that work for us. This table gives a quick overview of each concept and how it relates to linguistic justice.
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View full threadI think there's a lot of work to be done building awareness and acceptance of autistic ways of communicating: conceptually, empirically, and politically. I'm glad that I'll be able to continue working on this, and I hope others will also take up some of the ideas I've put forward.
- Reposted by Gerald RocheWe are witnessing a sea-change in the form of state power. Trump is ushering in a dissolution of the postcolonial world order of nation-states. But it isn't a simple resurrection of imperial states. It is new: the anti-migrant politics of nation-states + "indirect" colonization. Seatbelts required
- In 2024, the Bhutanese government released its official guidelines for the use of GenAI. The entire document is written in Comic Sans.
- I know not everyone is in a position to donate. If you can share, that would be a huge help as well.
- We are VERY close to meeting the Linguistic Justice Foundation's fund-raising target to support our operating costs in 2026. Do I know 9 people who can set up a monthly $5 donation? Are you one of those people? www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...
- We are VERY close to meeting the Linguistic Justice Foundation's fund-raising target to support our operating costs in 2026. Do I know 9 people who can set up a monthly $5 donation? Are you one of those people? www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...
- Once we meet our fund-raising target, I'm looking forward to getting back to producing free educational resources about linguistic justice in the new year.
- "The whakapapa of the word tankie came from the word ‘tanks’ that were used by the Stalinist USSR to crush the Hungarian revolution of 1956. This tankie ideology is inherently imperialist while parading as ‘anti-imperialism’." tetangiateruru.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/t...
- Article proofs are back with the publishers, so it looks like this will be up online next week or thereabouts.
- Reposted by Gerald Rochethe source article for the quote points out a major issue - orthographies for African languages sometimes don't mark tone, in spite of tone being crucial to word meaning! (and tonal pronunciation almost always changes postlexically, too - when you put words together into phrases) 🐦🐦
- “The global push to develop AI is no longer just about computing power or algorithmic breakthroughs,” wrote Primus in Nature Africa in June. “It’s about who gets to speak and who gets left out in the digital future.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- “The global push to develop AI is no longer just about computing power or algorithmic breakthroughs,” wrote Primus in Nature Africa in June. “It’s about who gets to speak and who gets left out in the digital future.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- "The reasoning might be admirable, the conclusions true, and the science deficient only in applicability."
- everyone time I wade into the autism literature a little John Ruskin pops up inside my head to say this
- Reposted by Gerald Roche"What does it mean to be understood as a deaf person? [...] By illuminating deaf worlds of (not) understanding and (not) being understood, layers of alienation and shame are reshaped into sites of linguistic flourishing." buff.ly/zoyy9jt
- Hany Babu has been released from prison.
- #India: We welcome the imminent release of academic Hany Babu following the approval of his bail application. Detained without trial for over 5 years, this ruling recognises the grave injustice he has faced. Learn more ⬇️ www.pen-international.org/news/india-a...
- I really love doing interdisciplinary research and learning from other people. It's always extremely interesting, and when you have a good team of supportive people it can be a really wonderful, inspiring experience.
