Psycho-Politics between the World Wars: Psychiatry and Society in Germany; Austria; and Switzerland

Specifications

Book Description

The book “Psycho-Politics between the World Wars” (PDF) discusses the psycho-political visions and programs that were prevalent in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland in the early decades of the twentieth century. In the midst of the political and social instability that followed the First World War, psychiatrists attempted to apply the scientific insights they had gained to comprehend, establish, and manage society as a whole. In order to retrace major discussions, characters, and networks involved in the redrawing of the borders of psychiatry's sphere of power, the book makes use of a wide variety of public and unpublished materials. The book is predicated on three interrelated case research: the mission of medical expansionism underneath the label of ‘applied psychiatry' in inter-wartime Vienna; the overt pathologization of the 1918/19 revolution led by right-wing German psychiatrists; and the try to hitch and implement various approaches to psychiatric prophylaxis in the movement for psychological hygiene. The mission of medical expansionism was carried out beneath the label of ‘applied psychiatry Through the study of these histories, the book not only offers light on the development of ideas that continue to shape the field to this day, but it also demonstrates the close connection between utopian promises and the greatest abuses of psychiatry.

Review

“In this astonishingly new history of interwar psychiatry in the German-speaking countries, David Freis explores how some of the era's most renowned psychiatrists (including Emil Kraepelin, Erwin Stransky, and Auguste Forel, among others) shifted their diagnostic language from the clinic to society at large…. This ebook by David Freis is a useful reminder of the human cost of incorrect links between nationalism and mental health theories; both in the past and in the present. It is easy to read, lively, and based on extensive research. — Elizabeth Ann Danto; Hunter College of the City University of New York; New York, United States of America

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE That the sole component of this purchase is the downloadable PDF version of the ebook titled “Psycho-Politics between the World Wars: Psychiatry and Society in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.” There are no access codes contained within.