The space of temporary marginalization: An analytical category for the study of madness in the Hospital de la Santa Creu of Barcelona (1790-1833)

In this Work in Progress (WiP) seminar, Tanit Castells proposes the category of "space of temporary marginalization" as an analytical tool for reinterpreting the care of the mentally ill at the Hospital de la Santa Creu in Barcelona between 1790 and 1833.

Unlike more traditional historiography, which continues to emphasize confinement as a form of punitive isolation, this research reveals that the institution functioned as a temporary and flexible relief mechanism, fully integrated into the sociocultural network of Catalonia. Through the analysis of primary sources, it is observed that admission to the mad wards did not represent a state of permanent exclusion, but rather a period of care and surveillance with the aim of achieving the patient's subsequent reintegration into their community. This dynamic reflects a sociocultural perception of mental illness as a curable condition, where the Hospital acted as a crisis management resource to preserve close support networks.

Commentator: Victoria Molinari, Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral researcher at iHC-UAB.

Tanit Castells holds a degree in history from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a master's degree in the history of science (UB/UAB). She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institute for the History of Science at the UAB, and is in the final stages of her dissertation on the history of psychiatry.

If you are interested in reading the entire text in advance —highly recommended, since the WiP seminar format presupposes prior reading— you can request it from Tanit.Castells@uab.cat or Laia.Torres.Casas@uab.cat

Remember that you can bring your lunch on site, as we will have a lunch-seminar format, rigorous and informal at the same time.