FRANCO BASAGLIA E IL PROBLEMA DEL DEVIANTE
UNA LETTURA DE LA MAGGIORANZA DEVIANTE ALLA LUCE DELLE CONFERENZE BRASILIANE

Luigiandrea Luppino

Through the analysis of some fundamental works by Basaglia, such as La maggioranza deviante (1971) and the Conferenze Brasiliane (1979), this short essay aims not only to illustrate Basaglia’s themes par excellence, but also to stress the philosophical and political value of his critical appraisal of the “total institutions” of our society based on the ideas contained in the program of his political movement Psichiatria Democratica, founded in 1973. Particular emphasis will be placed on the idea of the “concretely true”, which can only be pursued in a democratically oriented context, and of “political action”, a form of action that is capable of opening the way to a new world – a world where, finally, there can be space for a renewed humanism, where oppositions meet under the sign of the value of everyone’s life. Franco Basaglia and his reflections about society can help us to clearly understand that monsters do not exist. And if they exist, society is primarily responsible, given its violence and coercive methods. What is certain is that society needs insanity, madness and deviants, as an enemy is always needed. Through his most important essays, researches and conferences, we will be able to distinguish ideology from politics, the produced reality from actual reality.