Madness in International Relations

Psychology, Security, and the Global Governance of Mental Health
1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-0-415-87081-8
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 200 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 316 g

Reihe: Interventions

Madness in International Relations provides an important and innovative account of the role of psychology and psychiatry in global politics, showing how mental health governance has become a means of securing various populations, often with questionable effects.

Through the analysis of three key case studies Howell illustrates how such therapeutic interventions can at times be coercive and sovereign, at other times disciplinary, and at still other times benevolent, though not benign. In each case a ‘diagnostic competition’ is traced, that is, a contestation over how best to diagnose and treat the population in question. The book examines the populations of Guantánamo Bay, post-conflict societies and western militaries, identifying how these diagnostic competitions ultimately rest on shared assumptions about the value of psychology and psychiatry in managing global security, about the value of achieving security through mental health governance, and ultimately about the medicalization of security.

This work will be of great interest to all scholars of International relations, critical theory and security studies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Howell, Alison

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Außenpolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Madness in IR: An Introduction 2. Security, Order, Control: From Anti-Politics to Ethico Politics 3. Approaching Madness:the Psy Disciplines in Critical Perspective 4. Victims or Madmen? The Diagnostic Competition over ‘Terrorist’ Detainees at Guantánamo Bay 5. The Diagnostic Competition over Post-Conflict Populations: Merging the Psychosocial and Mental Health Models 6. Ordering Soldiers: Contesting Therapeutic Practices in the Canadian Military 7. Conclusion: The Global Politics of Governing Mental Health

Über Autor(innen)

Alison Howell is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), University of Manchester. Her research investigates the relationship between health and security, and she has recently been awarded a Fulbright fellowship for her research on health and soldiering in Western militaries.