Tiago
PIRES MARQUES

 
This project examines how historical contexts shape our understanding of the ‘social’ and the conditions through which the social dimension becomes both an object of inquiry and a key level of intervention in mental health. The study focuses on two cases from a global history perspective: community mental health initiatives in Portugal and the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. This project challenges the simplistic opposition between social and biomedical models of mental health. It will also illuminate how both laypeople and professionals today relate mental suffering to broader structural issues, such as capitalism, racism, gender inequalities, and social transformations like migration, aging, and technological innovation. Ultimately, the project aims to broaden the understanding of historical forms of emancipation in mental health, which are often too narrowly framed through a human rights lens.