Madness and Reason: exclusion of the other in political debate

Abstract

 Over time, madness has been used not only as a medical or psychological category, but also as a powerful device of social control and delegitimization. Labeling someone as mad goes beyond the boundaries of the health field and becomes an effective strategy to silence, discredit opinions, and invalidate discourses. The symbolic construction of madness, therefore, reveals itself not merely as a diagnosis, but as a mechanism of repression that sustains and legitimizes narratives capable of reinforcing stigmas and prejudiced discourses. In the contemporary political arena, mechanisms of exclusion do not manifest themselves only in direct forms, but increasingly through subtle and sophisticated discursive strategies. The choice of words, the terms employed, omissions, and specific framings become effective instruments of marginalization, contributing to the systematic relegation of certain groups to the margins of society.