Danielle Carr's Research: Exploring the Intersections of Neuroscience, Politics, and Culture
Danielle Carr is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Society and Genetics at UCLA. Trained as an anthropologist and historian of neuroscience, her work brings together the critical study of the brain and mind sciences in the twentieth century with the history of politics. Her research spans diverse areas, including the history of trauma, the medicalization of society, and the political implications of neuroscience and technology. This article delves into Carr's published works and research interests, exploring the key themes and insights that emerge from her scholarship.
The Political Dimensions of Mental Health
In her New York Times piece, "Mental health is political," Carr (2022) examines the intersection of mental health and political forces. This work underscores the importance of understanding mental health issues within broader social and political contexts.
Anti-Behaviorism, Language, and Totalitarianism
Carr's work, “‘Ghastly marionettes’ and the political metaphysics of cognitive liberalism: Anti-behaviourism, language, and the origins of totalitarianism" (2020), published in History of the Human Sciences, delves into the history of anti-behaviorism and its connection to the origins of totalitarianism. The article explores the role of language and cognitive liberalism in shaping political ideologies.
The Evolution of Trauma Theory
Carr's New York Magazine cover story, "Tell Me Why It Hurts: How Bessel van der Kolk’s once controversial theory of trauma became the dominant way we make sense of our lives" (2023), examines the career of trauma luminary Bessel van der Kolk. It explores how the concept of trauma has gained a significant cultural footprint. The development of Van der Kolk’s theoretical and empirical contributions to trauma studies provides a lens through which Dr Carr explores how the concept of “trauma” has come to have such a large cultural footprint.
Carr's analysis offers a novel and provocative history of traumatology. Although post-traumatic stress disorder was first formulated by disaffected Vietnam veterans and their psychiatric allies, defence funding for trauma research and treatment has dramatically expanded over the last two decades. Dr Carr links this change to the tragedies of September 11 and the subsequent War on Terror, suggesting that the concept of “trauma” has been politically useful in foregrounding American suffering but de-emphasising aggression overseas.
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The popular medicalisation of everyday unhappiness and larger social problems are topics that are ripe for scrutiny. However, while seeking to debunk certain trauma cliches, the piece trades in a few of its own. The 1990s is characterised as a period of wild “recovered memory” abandon in which talk shows and self-help books leant unjustified certainty to people’s suspicions they had been sexually abused as children. The term “repressed” is used interchangeably with “recovered” memories, hypnotherapy is invoked ominously and there is the inevitable reference to the debunked 1980 biography Michelle Remembers as well as a swipe at Ellen Bass and Laura Davis’ 1988 self-help book The Courage To Heal.
Medicalization of Society
In her Jacobin article, "Medicalizing society" (2018), Carr critiques the increasing tendency to frame social problems as medical issues. This work raises concerns about the potential for over-diagnosis and the neglect of social and political factors that contribute to human suffering.
Language and Quantification in Digital Psychiatry
Carr's work, "Le Sujet Numérique d’avant-garde et sa part irréductible. Langage et quantification en psychiatrie digitale" (2022), published in Terrain. Anthropologie & sciences humaines, explores the intersection of language and quantification in digital psychiatry. This article examines the challenges and implications of using digital technologies to study and treat mental health conditions. An English version of this article is also available, titled "Excess in the avant-garde of the data subject. Language and quantification in digital psychiatry" (2022).
Political Anatomies of the Cyborg
Carr's dissertation, "Political Anatomies of the Cyborg: Liberal Subjects and Neural Engineering" (2023), examines the political implications of neural engineering. This work explores how technologies like deep brain stimulation are shaping our understanding of the self and challenging traditional notions of agency.
History of Teletherapy
In "The Distance Cure A History of Teletherapy" (2022), Carr explores the history of teletherapy and its impact on mental health care. This article examines the benefits and drawbacks of remote therapy, as well as its potential to expand access to mental health services.
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Viruses
In "A Planet of Viruses" (2021), Carr writes about viruses.
Other Works
Carr has also contributed to publications such as n+1, with "The Bad Feature" (2020), and The Nation, with articles like "Docs vs. the AMA" (2020). These works reflect her diverse interests and her commitment to engaging with contemporary social and political issues.
Current Research
Carr's current book project focuses on the political history of neural engineering in the twentieth century, focusing on the development of Deep Brain Stimulation for psychiatric disorders. Both within and outside of the academy, most commentary treats neural engineering, and the “crisis of agency” it allegedly introduces, as something new.
Adderall
On an episode of the podcast, Danielle Carr discusses the history of Adderall and related medicines, what it does for the people who take it, and how market forces opened the drug up to almost anyone. Over the last few years, users of the popular ADHD drug Adderall have been frustrated by regular shortages in getting their prescriptions filled. Various regulatory and supply chain factors have contributed to the inability of producers to keep up with demand. But this raises the question: why is there so much demand in the first place? How did a significant chunk of the labor force -- from tech workers to Wall Streeters -- begin using the drug as an aid for their work and everyday lives?
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