Onward with the Anti-asylum Struggle, occupying city master plans

Abstract

This article reflects on the limits and possibilities for articulating the anti-asylum struggle with participatory city master plans (PMPs) in Brazil with the aim of helping enhance anti-asylum care in liberty and guaranteeing the rights of people experiencing mental suffering. De-parting from the premise that the city is neither a therapeutic nor a caring environment, this analysis seeks to weave together the challenges of “living in liberty” with urban planning policies guided by PMPs. To this end, we analyzed terms pertaining to the anti-asylum struggle and Brazil’s mental health reform in the PMPs of the 15 highest-sco-ring cities in the Connected Smart Cities Ranking. The findings show that it is important for the anti-asylum struggle to dispute municipal urban policies in wider legislative arenas in order to promote further advances in deinstitutionalization and a transformation of the social place of madness, and guarantee the rights of people experiencing mental suffering in cities.