Madness and the demand for recognition : a philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism / Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed.

  • Rashed, Mohammed Abouelleil
Date:
2019
  • Books

About this work

Description

Madness is a complex and contested term. Through time and across cultures, it has acquired many formulations: for some, madness is synonymous with unreason and violence, for others with creativity and subversion, and elsewhere it is associated with spirits and spirituality. Among the different formulations, there is one in particular that has taken hold so deeply and systematically that it has become the default view in many communities around the world: the idea that madness is a disorder of the mind. Contemporary developments in mental health activism pose a radical challenge to psychiatric and societal understandings of madness. Mad Pride and mad-positive activism reject the language of mental "illness" and "disorder," reclaim the term "mad," and reverse its negative connotations. Activists seek cultural change in the way madness is viewed, demanding recognition of madness as grounds for identity. But can madness constitute such grounds? Is it possible to understand delusions, passivity phenomena, and the discontinuity of self often seen in mental health conditions, as components of a person's identity rather than a disorder? How should society respond? Locating itself in the philosophical literature on identity and recognition, and in the philosophy of psychiatry. mad studies and activist literatures, this book is the first comprehensive philosophical examination of the claims and demands of Mad activism. It develops a rich theoretical framework for understanding, justifying, and responding to Mad activism's demand for recognition.

Publication/Creation

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.

Physical description

xxxii, 257 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm.

Series

Contributors

Notes

"Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed, Wellcome Trust ISSF Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom; Visiting Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, King's College London, United Kingdom."--Title page.

Contents

Introduction. Part 1 Madness. 1 Mental health activism and the demand for recognition : Introduction -- A brief historical account of activism in mental health -- The meaning of madness -- Mad Pride -- Philosophical engagement with Mad Pride discourse -- Next steps. 2 The problem of distress and disability : INtroduction -- Disability -- Distress -- Conclusion. Part 2 Recognition. 3 The concept of recognition and the problem of freedom : Introduction -- What is it to be a free agent? Moral duty vs. ethical life -- The conceptual structure of recognition in the Phenomenology of Spirit -- What kind of concept is the concept of recognition? -- What reasons do we have to accept the concept of recognition? -- Conclusion. 4 Identity and the psychological consequences of recognition : Introduction -- Identity -- The struggle for recognition -- Psychological consequences of recognition -- Conclusion. 5 Misrecognition: political reform or reconciliation : Introduction -- Misrecognition as a social harm -- Misrecognition and political reform -- Misrecognition and reconciliation -- Responding to misrecognition: a role for political reform and reconciliation -- Conclusion. Part 3 Routes to recognition. 6 Mad culture : Introduction -- What is culture? -- Can madness constitute a culture? -- Routes to cultural rights -- Conclusion. 7 Mad identity I: controversial and failed identities : Introduction -- The distinction between failed and controversial identities -- Delusional identities -- A methodology for distinguishing failed from controversial identities -- Conclusion. 8 Mad identity II: unity and continuity of self : Introduction -- (Dis)unity of self -- (Dis)continuity of self -- Conclusion. 9 Madness and the limits of recognition : Introduction -- The limits of recognition -- Narratives of madness -- Overcoming impairments to identify formation -- Making the difference between subjective narratives and Mad narratives -- Conclusion. Part 4 Approaches to Mad activism. 10 Responding to the demand for recognition of Mad identity : Introduction -- Normative force of demands for recognition (a précis of part II) -- Does the demand for recognition of Mad identity possess normative force? -- Responding to misrecognition -- Mad narratives and the cultural repertoire -- Conclusion. 11 Conclusion: pathways to reconciliation : Reconciling sceptics and supporters -- Reconciling madness and society. References -- Author index -- Subject index.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-243) and indexes.

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Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    Medical Collection
    WM140 2019R22m
    		Open shelves

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780198786863
  • 0198786867