Ian Marsh, Suicide: Foucault, History and Truth

Abstract

"In an original and provocative study of suicide, Ian Marsh examines the historical and cultural forces that have influenced contemporary thought, practices and policy in relation to this serious public health problem. Drawing on the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault, the book tells the story of how suicide has come to be seen as first and foremost a matter of psychiatric concern. Marsh sets out to challenge the assumptions and certainties embedded in our beliefs, attitudes and practices concerning suicide and the suicidal, and the resulting account unsettles and informs in equal measure. The book will be of particular interest to researchers, professionals and students in psychology, history, sociology and the health sciences"--Provided by publisher. "This book, which is for the most part influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, critically examines contemporary approaches to the problem of suicide. From Foucault comes a focus on relations of power, knowledge and the subject, and it is argued that it is possible to identify certain principles and strategies of analysis from Foucault's own studies (e.g. Madness and Civilization, 1965RFA-123; Discipline and Punish, 1977RFA-126 and The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, 1981RFA-128) that can usefully be employed to interrogate the assumptions and certainties embedded in our beliefs, attitudes and practices concerning suicide and the suicidal"--Provided by publisher. Introduction and analytic strategy. Introduction ; Analytic strategy -- The present. Mapping a contemporary 'regime of truth' in relation to suicide ; Problematising a contemporary 'regime of truth' in relation to suicide -- A history of the present. Self-accomplished deaths at other times and in other places : the contingency of contemporary truths in relation to suicide ; Conditions of possibility for the formation of medical truths of suicide : 1641-1821 ; Suicide as internal, pathological and medical : Esquirol 1821 ; The production, dissemination and circulation of medical truths in relation to suicide : 1821-1900 ; Managing the problem of the suicidal patient : containment, constant watching and restraint ; Towards the 'normatively monolithic' : 'psy' discourse and suicide : 1897-1981 ; The discursive formation of the suicidal subject : Sarah Kane and 4.48 psychosis, 2000 -- Summary and conclusions.