ABSTRACT
In this chapter we explore the notion of a genealogy of ideas, as described by Nietzsche and Foucault, and examine what it can offer the scholar, service user, and informal carer when it comes to understanding contemporary constructs such as the idea of “recovery” in mental health. A genealogical approach involves examining the history of ideas and practices, but is also especially attentive to the language in which ideas are couched and the interests and formations of power that this serves. Recovery approaches have been strongly promoted in health care where mental disorder is concerned, yet examining how the idea came about is useful if we are to understand its limitations and how it may unfold in practice. For example, examining how the term “recovery” has been deployed in the twentieth century reveals that it has been frequently associated with approaches that privilege expert medical knowledge and leave notions of disease, disorder, or medical dominance unchallenged. An examination of this can help place in context the misgivings and unease that service users and carers often find themselves experiencing when confronted with therapeutic failure, and highlight how current nostrums around health are but a small subset of a much wider variety of options. A genealogical approach may help those in distress and their carers make an informed decision as to whether a course of action is of genuine value to them.
