Place, Memory, and the Project of Deinstitutionalization

Edited by Elisabeth Punzi and Linda Steele

We are happy to share the publication of this book, that can be of great interest for h-madness readers :

Into the twenty-first century, millions of disabled people and people experiencing mental distress were segregated from the rest of society and confined to residential institutions. Deinstitutionalization – the closure of these sites and integration of former residents into the community – has become increasingly commonplace.

But this project is unfinished. Sites of Conscience explores use of the concept of sites of conscience and offers a way to forge new directions in social justice with and for those who have experienced harm. It involves a set of place-based memory activities such as walking tours, survivor-authored social histories, and performances and artistic works in or generated from sites of systemic suffering and injustice. These practices connect histories of place to contemporary social issues in order to move communities toward social change.

Covering diverse national contexts and disciplinary perspectives, this volume proposes that acknowledging the memories and lived experiences of former residents – and keeping the heritage of institutions alive rather than simply closing sites – holds the greatest potential for community recognition, accountability, and action.

Scholars and practitioners in disciplines such as social work, public health, psychology, human rights, transitional justice, history, museum studies, and criminology will find a necessary perspective in this work, and it will also interest Mad activists, disability rights advocates, and disabled people themselves; heritage, museum, and urban planning professionals and scholars will also gain a disability perspective to their work.

More information can be found here.