The ‘Cultures’ of Global Mental Health

Global Mental Health is a field of research and practice that addresses the expansion of universal and equitable mental health care worldwide. This article explores the ways the concept of culture is employed in Global Mental Health literature. Global Mental Health advocates and critics assume an on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory, culture & society culture & society, 2022-05, Vol.39 (3), p.99-119
Main Authors: David Wenceslau, Leandro, Ortega, Francisco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Culture
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental health care
Mental health services
Public health
Social issues
Social sciences
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Summary:Global Mental Health is a field of research and practice that addresses the expansion of universal and equitable mental health care worldwide. This article explores the ways the concept of culture is employed in Global Mental Health literature. Global Mental Health advocates and critics assume an ontological separation between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ to typify mental illness, linking it predominantly to one or the other of these two categories. Advocates of Global Mental Health view mental disorders as a nature–culture hybrid, while critics see them as typically cultural phenomena. The cultural critique of Global Mental Health can be strengthened by a sociological approach to both the role of critique and the uses of the concept of culture within social sciences. As an alternative to the ontologization of culture, we propose a different theoretical approach to the social issues involved in the expansion of international public health care in mental health: Arthur Kleinman's and Didier Fassin’s moral anthropological approaches.
ISSN:0263-2764
1460-3616
DOI:10.1177/02632764211039282