Book Review: Understanding Mental Distress: Knowledge, Practice and Neoliberal Reform in Community Mental Health Services by Rich Moth

IF 2.3 2区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL ISSUES

Critical Social Policy Pub Date : 2022-10-14 DOI:10.1177/02610183221120547d

I. Cummins

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

political, economic and ideological background of the countries under consideration. For example, we are told that India is ‘still far from ratifying C189’ (p.33), or that the requests of Ecuadorian ‘domestic workers to make formal rights a reality were not taken up by the state’ (p.41), but the authors provide no information as to why. For a book which is about domestic workers, their voices seem strangely absent; they are heard only via their representatives, but not directly. The book focuses on the responses to Convention 189 of institutions and organisations (governments, trade unions, NGOs). Of the 200 ‘key informants, such as activists, organisers, policy makers, legal professionals and experts’ who were interviewed during the research project on which the book is based, only a minority (22 out of 200) had had experience of working as domestic workers (p.16). This may be due to the remit of the research but is jarring, especially considering the stress placed in the book on self-organization and empowerment. Giving preferential voice to organisers, academics and other ‘experts’ seems to be reinforcing the top down channels of knowledge formation that underpin constituted power relations. Nevertheless, the book is valuable in providing a bird’s eye view of the organised struggles of domestic workers globally. In doing so, it helps highlight the problems faced by multiply marginalised groups. Domestic workers’ experiences of different fronts of oppression as women, carers, marginalised workers, migrants, racialized minorities, and their demands for economic, legal, social and cultural recognition may help, the authors suggest, create a ‘space of convergence’ for movements that have traditionally been seen as separate. By challenging the boundaries between feminist struggles, labour movements and identity based activism, this book reminds us of the importance of building and deepening alliances that can better push for societal changes and equitable social policies.

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书评:理解精神痛苦:知识、实践和社区精神卫生服务的新自由主义改革,丰富的蛾

所审议国家的政治、经济和意识形态背景。例如，我们被告知，印度“距离批准C189还有很长的路要走”（第33页），或者厄瓜多尔“家庭佣工要求实现正式权利的请求没有被国家接受”（第41页），但作者没有提供原因信息。对于一本关于家政工人的书来说，他们的声音似乎奇怪地缺席了；他们只能通过他们的代表发言，而不能直接发言。本书重点介绍了机构和组织（政府、工会、非政府组织）对《189号公约》的回应。在这本书所依据的研究项目中，200名“关键线人，如活动家、组织者、政策制定者、法律专业人士和专家”接受了采访，其中只有少数人（200人中有22人）有过家庭佣工的工作经验（第16页），特别是考虑到书中对自组织和赋权的强调。给予组织者、学者和其他“专家”优先发言权似乎加强了自上而下的知识形成渠道，这些渠道是构成权力关系的基础。尽管如此，这本书还是很有价值的，可以鸟瞰全球家政工人有组织的斗争。这样做有助于突出被边缘化群体所面临的问题。作者认为，家庭佣工作为妇女、看护人、边缘化工人、移民、种族化少数群体，在不同的压迫战线上的经历，以及他们对经济、法律、社会和文化承认的要求，可能有助于为传统上被视为独立的运动创造一个“融合空间”。通过挑战女权主义斗争、劳工运动和基于身份的激进主义之间的界限，这本书提醒我们建立和深化联盟的重要性，以更好地推动社会变革和公平的社会政策。

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来源期刊

Critical Social Policy Multiple-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

8.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Critical Social Policy provides a forum for advocacy, analysis and debate on social policy issues. We publish critical perspectives which: ·acknowledge and reflect upon differences in political, economic, social and cultural power and upon the diversity of cultures and movements shaping social policy; ·re-think conventional approaches to securing rights, meeting needs and challenging inequalities and injustices; ·include perspectives, analyses and concerns of people and groups whose voices are unheard or underrepresented in policy-making; ·reflect lived experiences of users of existing benefits and services;