Mad Matters

"This book is a much needed addition to the field of Disability Studies." —Nancy Hansen, University of Manitoba

"This reader fills a clear gap in Canadian scholarship. It will, in my view, put Mad Studies 'on the map' and open this important area of study to a much larger audience. It will be particularly useful for senior undergraduate and graduate students but also brings together a disparate body of literature that will be useful to specialists in the field and to those who teach Disabilities, Mad Studies, and Social History." —Thomas E. Brown, Mount Royal University

"This book carves out the terrain of a vital and robust new field of study and makes clear its many points of connection to lived experiences of madness, activist movements, and related scholarly disciplines. The writing in Mad Matters comes from diverse personal and scholarly perspectives, and covers an impressive range of relevant topics, yet it all consistently advances the volume's goal of explaining and demonstrating the scope and radical significance of Mad Studies. In short, the anthology is delightfully readable and theoretically rich." —Joanne Woiak, University of Washington

"The diverse and brilliant authors who contribute to this second edition of Mad Matters offer profound and unexpected insights, and important critiques of the current system of psychiatry and allied health. This book is crucial reading for students, professionals, anyone with experience receiving mental health care, and their friends, families, and loved ones. With new chapters highlighting alternate frameworks and a unique focus on Canadian and BIPOC perspectives, the text encourages us all to reconsider the status quo and embrace the importance of Mad issues." —Leah Douglas, MSW, PhD, RCSW, Associate Professor, School of Social Work & Human Services, University of the Fraser Valley

"This landmark collection is an essential contribution to Mad Studies. Bringing together foundational and emerging voices, it preserves the histories, scholarship, and creative practices that have shaped the field while advancing new directions in Mad analysis and action. As perhaps the most significant Mad Studies collection to emerge from what is now called Canada, it is an indispensable resource for students, practitioners, scholars, and activists in any intersecting liberatory movements." —Tanya Shute, MSW, PhD, RSW, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Laurentian University

"This second edition of Mad Matters is an essential text for anyone interested in challenges to the medical-pharmaceutical model of mental health. Giving voice to a wide range of alternative voices from psychiatric survivors to Indigenous and BIPOC alternative knowledge, as well as anti-psychiatric traditions, this is a truly comprehensive text." —Hans Skott-Myhre, PhD, Professor, Social Work and Human Services, Kennesaw State University, USA

"Upon its publication, Mad Matters became a guiding light. This new, updated edition consolidates the significance of Mad Studies. The influence of this book and my admiration for the editors and the chapter authors cannot be overstated." —Elisabeth Punzi, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Social Work and the Centre for Critical Heritage Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

"The first edition is heralded as a trailblazer in establishing the field of Mad Studies. The second edition will not only continue to invigorate the field but also set the bearings for the future of research, teaching, and community work within Mad Studies to include diverse voices, adopt an ethics of care in building mad communities, and engage with how madness matters. This second edition is remarkable, powerful, and rigorous, and it will help make better futures possible." —Rory du Plessis, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa

"This outstanding second edition brings together the history and decades of Mad investigations from Mad people and their experiences with the psychiatric system, activists, and scholars. With its clear and accessible language, this edition is not only an immensely important tool for the critique of Canadian psychiatric discourse but also demonstrates the contribution of Mad Matters to the fight against racist regimes of war and genocides that are increasingly directed against an inner enemy discarded as trash and not worthy of any protection. A powerful contribution." —Thomas Foth, RN, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa

"This updated second edition of a landmark collection, substantially extended in scope, is an invaluable resource for academics and activists alike. By thoroughly integrating Indigenous, Black, and PoC perspectives, the book advances the decolonisation of Mad Studies. Poetic interruptions further reinforce its challenge to limiting knowledge practices regarding madness." —Cornelia Wächter, PhD, Professor, British Cultural Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

"Mad Matters returns in a timely and richly expanded second edition, offering a renewed articulation of Mad Studies itself. By placing colonialism and racism firmly at its centre, the book provides critical insights for recognising, challenging, and confronting oppressive and coercive crazy-making systems. Against a backdrop of growing global violence and injustice, this book offers a hopeful framework for validating Mad knowledge through focusing on context, harm, and power, while affirming the radical potential of solidarity and collective action. A much-needed inspiration for scholarship, activism, and the reimagining of Mad matters around the world." —Lydia Sapouna, PhD, University College Cork Ireland, Critical Voices Network Ireland

"If the first edition gave a name to and provided a framework for Mad Studies, this new edition convincingly demonstrates what this field can do. Reading it is like being drawn into a space with many different entry points—all relevant and resonating far beyond Canada. The spectrum of terrific contributions draws clear contours of Mad Studies while leaving enough room for people and knowledges from different walks of life to join in and shape this transformative scholarship together." —Jasna Russo, PhD, Professor of Emancipatory Approaches and Collaborative Methods in Social Work, Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences, Berlin

"Just as bold and brilliant as the first edition. Mad Matters gifts us the language and tools that we need now more than ever in the maddening conditions that connect all of our lives. I know I will return often to these pages, just as I have found refuge and resistance in the first edition." —China Mills, PhD, Head of Research at Healing Justice Ldn, and author of Decolonising Global Mental Health and No More Deaths by Welfare

"As the capitalist colonial Canadian state increasingly disposes of those who offend its lethal norms and rationalities, the arrival of Mad Matters shows us what so many have found within mad-affirming communities: a more liveable, dignifying, and liberatory world for all is possible. In this book, mad persons join with psychiatrized allies and trusted accomplices to invite inquiry, incite political action, and produce knowledge on their own terms. Building on extensive histories of mad activism, scholarship, art, and survivance, Mad Matters forges an urgently needed anti-racist gathering space away from the subjugating psychiatric premises and practices of the mental health system." —Jan DeFehr, MSW, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg, author of A Critical Mental Health Primer: Towards Informed Choice in Social Services, Education, and Healthcare

"The second edition of Mad Matters is an irreplaceable resource for activists, students, and scholars engaged in anti-oppression and social justice work. Chapters exploring intersections of madness, colonialism, and race are a significant and welcome addition to the collection. Updated commentary on Mad Studies' historical development provides rich insights into a dynamic discipline and the opportunity to learn about and celebrate the contributions and lives of Mad activists and scholars." —Linda Steele, PhD, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney

"The second edition of Mad Matters stands at once as a testament to the growing recognition of Mad Studies as a field of critical inquiry and as an affirmation of the urgent innovation and intervention that made the first edition so influential. In extending its analysis - incorporating fifteen new chapters as well as poetry and expanded discussions of race and identity - the second edition reaffirms Mad Matters as an indispensable critical resource for scholars and activists alike." —Christoph Singer, PhD, Chair of British and Anglophone Cultural Studies, University of Innsbruck, Austria