Decolonising madness? Transcultural psychiatry, international order and the birth of a global psyche in the aftermath of the Second World War

In the aftermath of the Second World War and the process of decolonisation, a deep transformation in psychiatric notions of mental health and illness was effectuated and a new dialogue between Western and non-Western scientific communities was established. Decolonisation allowed for the identification and definition of universal psychological mechanisms allegedly common in all cultures. The EU-funded DECOLMAD project will explore this psychiatric, social and cultural approach aiming at a new definition of common humanity that emerged and was deployed in an increasingly interconnected and culturally different global frame; it will also examine the historical forces that supported it. The project will provide the first historical analysis of today’s global mental health movement and the first systematic report of the decolonisation of psychiatry and mental health sciences.