In the 1960s and 1970s a movement emerged in Italy which challenged the psychiatric hospital system, and the way that mental illness was understood. This movement had global links with other, similar, movements across the world. Starting from the remote town of Gorizia, and led by the charismatic psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, the movement opened up hospitals and achieved national reform in 1978. This seminar will examine the roots and dynamics of this movement, its legacy and the way it has been interpreted and mis-interpreted historically.

All are welcome.