Alienation and mental health: Escaping the therapeutic society
Emil Øversveen
Abstract
Due to its perceived ability to explain the distinctive experiences of powerlessness and isolation pervading modern society, Marx’s theory of alienation quickly become one of his most influential contributions when it was discovered in the 1930s, and remains a powerful explanatory tool for those seeking to understand the relationship between social conditions and mental health. Inspiring everything from the Frankfurt School to anti-consumerist movements of the 1990s, alienation theory proved controversial among traditionally inclined Marxists, who rejected it as a non-scientific remnant of Marx’s youthful Hegelianism. In this keynote I chart the troubled history of alienation theory in 20th century critical theory, before outlining a reinterpretation that grounds the concept more firmly within Marx’s critique of political economy. I then consider the potential of alienation theory to illuminate the relationship between social inequality and health, focusing in particular on its ability to enhance the psycho-social theories advanced by Marmot, Wilkinson and others. I conclude the presentation by engaging with Christopher Lasch’s critique of the therapeutic society, arguing that politicizing alienation can provide an alternative to what Lasch saw as a retreat from politics into psychological self-healing.
Suicidal conditions: State and Corporate Violence in the Making of Suicide
China Mills
Abstract
Suicide doesn’t occur in a vacuum—it is complex, multidimensional, and often the result of many intersecting factors building up to make life unliveable. Dominant political narratives often centre mental health when talking about suicide, at best treating suicide as a tragic and unfortunate side-effect of political conditions. But what about the role of State and corporations in producing conditions that make people’s lives unliveable? What about when unliveability and death-making are designed into policy?
In this session, we explore what it means to understand some suicides as a symptom of state and corporate violence—violence which is slow, often bureaucratic, normalised, and which eludes simple cause and effect, enabling denial of responsibility from the state and corporations. We will also explore the what resistance looks like and how it is often those most impacted who are envisioning justice through dreaming, creating and enacting life-affirming systems and infrastructures.