Critical Suicide Notes: On Witnessing and Prefigurative Politics

Jeffrey P. Ansloos () and Jennifer H. White
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Jeffrey P. Ansloos: Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada
Jennifer H. White: School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-27

Abstract: This paper reimagines the study of suicide as a critical, relational practice rooted in solidarity and transformative possibilities. Moving beyond the limitations of conventional suicidology, this work emphasizes the importance of attending to the broader social, political, and structural contexts that shape experiences of suicidality. By framing this work as a collection of “notes,” this paper calls for an approach that notices, marks, and responds to both the violence and resistance inherent in these experiences. This paper introduces witnessing, dreaming, and prefiguration as key methodologies for Critical Suicide Studies. Witnessing is conceptualized as an active and relational practice that centers on the lived realities of those affected by suicide, making their stories and the systems of harm that often go unaddressed, visible. Dreaming involves imagining futures beyond survival, where care and justice guide collective responses. Prefiguration focuses on enacting these futures in the present, embedding relational and community-based approaches in the everyday practices of suicide care and research. Through these practices, this paper explores how Critical Suicide Studies can move from critique to action, creating conditions in which responses to suicide are life-affirming, relational, and grounded in mutual care. This work aspires to cultivate spaces for collective healing, dignity and transformative change.

Keywords: suicide; critical suicide studies; prefigurative politics; decolonization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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