The indigenous and the mad: about guardianship, recognition of rights and challenges for the realization of citizenship in the field of mental health

Abstract

The article proposes a reflection on the construction of public policies in Brazil, based on the recognition of difference, from the perspective of two segments with distinct political and social histories – indigenous people and people with mental disorders. Both groups faced the same condition: they have been excluded as citizens for a long time, because of differences and, on the name of which, endure up to this day, extreme situations of violation of rights. The purpose of this paper is to develop a brief parallel on the process of recognition of the rights ofindigenous people and, at the same time, the recognition of the rights of people with mental disorders, both made possible by the  promulgation of the Federal Constitution of 1988. The analyses has as parameter the guardianship rules previously in force in Brazil, which affected these two social segments in a particular way, leaving cultural and ideological marks that continue to be confronted for the effectiveness and consolidation of the new rights. Treated as quite different and specific political and identity spheres, the parallels observed between the spheres of indigenous rights and mental health reveal similar stories, both regarding violations of rights, as well as the confrontation with normalization and stigmatization of diversity. Ultimately, they are parallels that say about distinct social movements, but which
reveal similar efforts in the struggle for the construction and affirmation of a citizenship based on the recognition of plurality.