Democracy, Citizenship and the Radical Possibilities of Postpsychiatry

Abstract

Can't yet use as the book not yet published. Not all that much of direct relevance to me. Note p 8 the issue of the power of psychiatry, particularly in coercion-may be worth using. Same page-"postmodern thought does not reject the project of the Enlightenment but argues that we ned to see its downside as well as its positive aspects. It means questioning simple notions of progress and advancement and being aware that science can silence as well as liberate" P 11-[postpsychiatry] deconstructs psychiatry and opens up spaces in which alternative understandings of madness can assume validity denied them by psychiatry. p12-postpsychiatry is not a place, a set of fixed ideas and beliefs. Instead, it is more like a set of orientations whihc together can help us move on from where we are now..... emphasises the importance of contexts. An understanding of soical, political and cultural realities that shape the experiences of those who use the mental health services should be central to our understanding of madness... Events, reactions and social networks are not conceptualised as separate items which can be analysed and measured in isolation, but are instead unerstood as bound together in a web of meaningful connections wihc can be explored and illuminated whilst defying simple causal explanation. See quote by Halpern-check for in book.