Neoliberalism and Illness Narratives: The Intertwined Logics of Choice and Care

Abstract

Illness narratives provide a useful lens for analysing neoliberal citizenship at a micro level, from the point of view of patients, family caregivers and healthcare professionals. Indeed, they reveal how people think about and act on their health and disease; they also tell us something about the social context in which illness is experienced, thereby illuminating dominant discourses.

According to Mol (2008), health and illness can be thought about and acted on according to two logics: the logic of choice and the logic of care. The logic of choice entails the neoliberal principle that people should be allowed to make their own autonomous choices. The logic of care implies an interpersonal process of co-responsibility over one’s health and illness.

Drawing on Mol’s work, the chapter presents a thematic content analysis of 20 illness narratives of patients with multiple sclerosis and their caregivers, questioning whether these two logics conflict with each other or whether they are intertwined.