The Colonized Brain and the Ways of Revolt

The modern understanding of brain function and mental illness is deeply shaped by the projection of colonial hierarchies onto the brain: supposedly higher brain centres and functions are attributed with the supervision of supposedly primitive drives and desires. Mental illness was long understood as a loss of this domineering control, and those affected were left at the mercy of power techniques reimported from the colonies. Andreas Heinz reconstructs the history of the revolts against these racist constructions as well as the repressive counter-movements. Can traces of the internalised hierarchies of the colonised brain still be found in contemporary forms of mindful self-discipline?