Deterritorializing Dementia

A Review Essay of John Swinton’s Dementia: Living in the Memories of God

Abstract

One of John Swinton’s objectives in his recent book, Dementia: Living in the Memories of God (2012), is to “deterritorialize” dementia: dementia is not the privileged domain of the neurologist. Following Tom Kitwood (1997), Swinton argues that dementia is as much relational and social as it is neurological. But he does warn against the moral implications of a radical relational approach. The belief that people are kept in the memories of God offers the only adequate description and approach to dementia. This review will present Swinton’s argument and raise critical questions about his understanding of the hegemonic role of theology.