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Paper short abstract:

A dialogue between an interdisciplinary, interracial and international couple – one therapist, one anthropologist – as they explore how socio-political knowledge informs Jasmine’s therapeutic work, and emotional self-work influences Rich’s ethnographic methods and anthropological writing.

Paper long abstract:

How does living with a therapist inform the anthropologist? How does living with an anthropologist inform the therapist?

In this paper, we construct a dialogue based on our experience living as an interdisciplinary, interracial and international couple. Jasmine – who has a background in political science, theatre, and education – currently works in the role of dramatherapist. Rich – who has also has a background in theatre – currently inhabits the academic role of ‘anthropologist’. Rich’s research on the subjectivity of education entrepreneurs is heavily informed by psychological readings of the self, and Jasmine’s everyday therapeutic work is structured by her queer, anti-racist politics. At home, they confront each others’ disciplines and imagine opportunities for social justice in a more interdisciplinary world.

This paper showcases the kinds of conversations Rich and Jasmine have as a couple, as colleagues, as thinkers and activists who see sociologically-informed self-reflection as central to understanding human communities. It gives examples of how Rich weaves exploration of ‘inner-life’ into his ethnographic research, and how Jasmine designs therapeutic interventions guided by the various anti colonial feminist writings and practices confronting structural oppression. By presenting everyday domestic conversations as autoethnographic vignettes, this paper presents a new method for exploring how the realms of anthropology and therapy can inform and support each other.