Dementism: reframing cognitive decline as moral and structural injustice

Dementia has long been understood through biomedical frameworks that privilege brain pathology over lived experience. This article introduces dementism—a theoretical lens reframing dementia as a moral and social injustice rather than merely a medical condition. By exposing the four architectures of dementism—emotional reactions, social attribution, exclusion, and denial of humanness, this article argues for a paradigm shift in how society conceptualises cognitive decline. It invites an ontological debate: what if losing memory does not mean losing humanity? Dementism challenges the moral hierarchies embedded in care systems and proposes a justice-oriented vision for dementia research and policy reform.