Foucault’s Ideas on the Institutionalization of Madness and the Use of Psychiatry for Political Purposes (Audio Course)

Description

Foucault’s framework is particularly useful for analyzing the contemporary use of psychiatry for political purposes. Over the last century, psychiatry has increasingly been employed by states, political regimes, and authoritarian governments to control dissent, silence political opposition, and legitimize repression. The medicalization of mental illness and the legitimization of psychiatric diagnoses have allowed political actors to categorize and manage certain individuals or groups as mentally ill or dangerous, often with profound social and legal consequences.

In this course, we will explore how Foucault’s ideas on the institutionalization of madness, the relationship between power and knowledge, and the development of psychiatry as a tool of social control can be applied to understand the contemporary use of psychiatry in political contexts. We will examine historical and contemporary examples of psychiatry being used for political purposes and analyze them through Foucault’s lens, focusing on the interplay between psychiatry, power, and politics.