Psychiatric discourse and Hygienism-Normalization and Liberalism in Latin America from Michel Foucault

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to reflect on the production of abnormalities from a historical-hermeneutical point of view. Starting from the theoretical framework proposed by Michel Foucault, how the normality-abnormality binomial has been seen, whether in a disciplinary or biopolitical way, it serves to produce individuals through knowledge-power relations. In these terms, it has been demonstrated how the production of abnormalities occurs in Foucault’s work. In the second topic, it has been shown how the discussion about biopower can be used in order to problematize situations and cases that have occurred in our continent. It is about connecting the production of abnormalities to the hygienism development in Latin America, giving notice to some strategies used in normalization and production of hygienic bodies.