Suicide and Evidence Seminar Series

Suicide research and prevention is generally driven by statistics, which in the UK and much of the West have historically reported (white cis) men as dying at the highest rates of suicide. In this seminar series, we rethink what constitutes as ‘evidence’ about suicide. We learn from folks researching suicide with populations who are often under-represented in or excluded from suicide statistics. In these cases, we are interested in how evidence on suicide is navigated and reimaged, and what this offers for suicide knowledge production and for people's lives. We also hear in this seminar series from people who are critiquing the statistical status quo of existing (often pathological, white male) evidence on suicide. What becomes possible when we think beyond trying to fit people into existing ways of measuring suicide and unliveability? Find out more about the project here.

Evidence of welfare state violence: navigating tensions towards radical action

The Deaths by Welfare project evidences the way the UK welfare system kills people, and how disabled people and bereaved families resist. The project navigates many tensions around evidence - which I'll share in this session. These include questions around: what counts as evidence and who decides? What are we using evidence to do? Often we imagine that evidence of harm is a way to fight for government accountability. But what about when policies are harmful by design? And how do you evidence harm by design? We'll explore tactics of evidence-making to explore the kind of impact we're imagining - from tinkering at the edges of policy in ways that may ultimately reinforce the power and violence of the system, to asking what role evidence can play in shaping radical action, bearing witness, validating people’s experiences, and resourcing ourselves to move toward a collective strategy.

All of the seminars are online, and you will receive a zoom link via email before the event :)