Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

The first comprehensive philosophical examination of the claims and demands of Mad activism
Engages with a diverse set of disciplines and literatures: philosophy of psychiatry, Mad studies, Disability studies, activist literature, and philosophical literature on identity and recognition
Develops a theoretical framework for identity and recognition that draws on Georg Hegel, Immanuel Kant, and the work of Charles Taylor, Axel Honneth, Nancy Fraser, Kwame Appiah, and Richard Rorty
Each chapter is self-contained and can be read alone as well as part of the overall discourse
Written by a researcher with experience and training in philosophy, psychiatry, and ethnography

Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Description

Madness is a complex and contested term. Through time and across cultures it has acquired many formulations: for some, madness is synonymous with unreason and violence, for others with creativity and subversion, elsewhere it is associated with spirits and spirituality. Among the different formulations, there is one in particular that has taken hold so deeply and systematically that it has become the default view in many communities around the world: the idea that madness is a disorder of the mind.

Contemporary developments in mental health activism pose a radical challenge to psychiatric and societal understandings of madness. Mad Pride and mad-positive activism reject the language of mental 'illness' and 'disorder', reclaim the term 'mad', and reverse its negative connotations. Activists seek cultural change in the way madness is viewed, and demand recognition of madness as grounds for identity. But can madness constitute such grounds? Is it possible to reconcile delusions, passivity phenomena, and the discontinuity of self often seen in mental health conditions with the requirements for identity formation presupposed by the theory of recognition? How should society respond?

Guided by these questions, this book is the first comprehensive philosophical examination of the claims and demands of Mad activism. Locating itself in the philosophy of psychiatry, Mad studies, and activist literatures, the book develops a rich theoretical framework for understanding, justifying, and responding to Mad activism's demand for recognition.

Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Part 1: Madness
1:Mental health activism and the demand for recognition
2:The problem of distress and disability
Part 2: Recognition
3:The concept of recognition and the problem of freedom
4:Identity and the psychological consequences of recognition
5:Misrecognition: Political reform or reconciliation?
Part 3: Routes to recognition
6:Mad culture
7:Mad identity I: Controversial and failed identities
8:Mad identity II: Unity and continuity of self
9:Madness and the limits of recognition
Part 4: Approaches to Mad Activism
10:Responding to the demand for recognition of Mad identity
11:Conclusion: Pathways to reconciliation

Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Author Information

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed, Wellcome Trust ISSF Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London and Visiting Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, King's College London

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed is Wellcome Trust ISSF Research Fellow at the Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London, and Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, King's College London. Before moving on to full-time research in 2007, Mohammed studied medicine at Cairo University Medical School and trained in psychiatry in London on the Guy's, King's College, and St. Thomas' Hospitals training scheme. He is the author of several papers and chapters in philosophy and psychiatry on the concept of mental disorder, the concept of culture, the nature of the diagnostic process, madness and disability, empathy and understanding in mental health, and psychiatric ethics.

Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

Reviews and Awards

"Madness and the demand for recognition amplifies the value of Mad Movement efforts to bring about societal transformation, and may offer us some theoretical anchors, emerging from our own descriptions of our work, to bolster our activities." - Alise de Bie, Disability & Society

"Rashed's Madness and the Demand for Recognition is the first book that, in terms of the theory of recognition, is devoted to the central question of social psychiatry: how - outside of a medical-psychiatric framework - can we deal with demands for social and cultural recognition by people with psychiatric experience ... The book is written clearly and precisely and, despite its academic character, is very easy to read." - Lukas Iwer, Sozialpsychiatrische Informationen

Madness and the demand for recognition

A philosophical inquiry into identity and mental health activism

Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed

International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry

From Our Blog

Mad Pride and the end of mental illness

When we think of mental illness we're likely to recall experiences, behaviours, and psychological states that are bad for the individual: a person with severe depression loses all interest in life; another with anxiety might not be able to leave the house; auditory hallucinations can be terrifying; paranoia can make social interaction impossible; and delusions take the person away from a shared reality.

Posted on June 27, 2019

Read the blog post