#1292 Nima Bassiri: Capitalism, Psychiatry, and the Emergence of Pathological Value
RECORDED ON MAY 8th 2026.
Dr. Nima Bassiri is a social theorist, historian & philosopher of the human sciences, and associate professor at Duke University, where he teaches in the Program in Literature, Duke’s interdisciplinary humanities and cultural studies program. He is also the co-director of Duke’s Institute for Critical Theory, where he convenes the Critical Theory Workshop. He is the author of Madness and Enterprise: Psychiatry, Economic Reason, and the Emergence of Pathological Value.
In this episode, we focus on Madness and Enterprise. We discuss how psychiatry developed under capitalism, the link between economic value and mental illness, the sociocultural context of psychiatry, and the madness of business enterprise. We discuss an economic style of psychiatric reasoning as a hermeneutic strategy for self-intelligibility, psychiatric diagnoses as interpretations, and when immoral behaviors are labelled as illnesses. Finally, we discuss a critique of capitalism, and a realistic perspective on psychiatry.
Time Links:
Intro
The premise and main argument of the book
Capitalism and madness
Economic value and psychiatry
The sociocultural context of psychiatry
The madness of business enterprise
An economic style of psychiatric reasoning as a hermeneutic strategy for self-intelligibility
Psychiatric diagnoses as interpretations
Are immoral behaviors labelled as illnesses?
A critique of capitalism
A realistic perspective on psychiatry
Follow Dr. Bassiri’s work!
Follow Dr. Bassiri’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/yd6y9srt
Website: https://www.nimabassiri.com/
ResearchGate profile: https://tinyurl.com/34zywd3j
Madness and Enterprise: https://tinyurl.com/ubspy4hm