The article analyzes two opposing views of the formation of the psychiatric field: the Foucauldian perspective, which holds sway in Brazil, and the perspective of Gauchet and Swain. Two works by Foucault (History of Madness and Psychiatric Power) are contrasted with Madness and Democracy, by the latter authors. It is argued that a society's political and assistance strategies about madness are shaped by the conceptual bases defining what constitutes the field of psychiatric theory and how it was formed. The article calls attention to the diverse consequences that these two approaches may have on the reform of Brazilian psychiatry.
formation of psychiatry; mental health; Michel Foucault (1926-1984); history of madness; Brazil