The Interface of Mad Studies and Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Innovation, Co-Creation, and Decolonization

Abstract

This paper explores the interface between Mad Studies and Indigenous ways of knowing, and argues that the dialogical expanse that exists between these two fields could be a site for innovation, co-creation, and decolonization. Mad Studies is a radical approach to studying the ways we organize and respond to mental health experiences. The field questions and unsettles biomedical understandings of mental illness, and frames psychiatric experiences as diverse forms of human emotional or spiritual expression. Indigenous perspectives on disability describe mental health using a holistic, wellness-based lens, with many scholars highlighting the link to colonial violence and oppression. The interface of Mad Studies and Indigenous ways of knowing could provide a unique platform for gaining a broader understanding of Indigenous mental health while resisting Western, psy explanations of emotional distress. Different interpretations and understandings can be discussed and debated, and through ethical spaces (Ermine, 2007) new understandings or ideas may emerge. These, in turn, may help decolonize some of the dominant biomedical biases that underpin many contemporary psychiatric treatment approaches.Social workers have a particularly important role to play in these conversations. Our professional commitment to anti-oppression and social justice implores us to take an active role in these debates. Through our workplaces we can problematize dominant discourses from within dominant systems, and make our contribution to decolonization.